Still Abnormals As Ever
by R.J.North
Summary: Even in a universe where the Turtles aren't turtles, but human, Alex is still fated to meet them. What will happen as she and the boys, as well as her best friend Kerry, go on and run into trouble with martial arts, school, bullies and perhaps death? Will they stick together and pull through or fall apart?
1. The Begining

Okay, so this a collaberation piece done with StillDoll13. It takes place in an AU where the guys are human. Alex, my OC from my other TMNT series (whom I always us in any of my TMNT fics), is a little different, but not completely. StillDoll13 also owns Kerry, who is in this story quite a bit. I couldn't have done this story without her. Anyways, hope you guys like this and please, PLEASE review. Thanks!

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Chapter 1  
The Beginning

Alex walked into the cafeteria twenty minutes into her lunch period with her paper bagged lunch in hand, her backpack handing over her shoulder as she made her way to her usual lunch table with her friends. She dropped the bag down on the table, sat down and laid her head down with an exaggerated huff.

There were seven other people at their table, three boys and four girls. Phoebe, a foreign exchange student from England. Rudy, a german exchange student that had taken a liking to the English girl sitting next to him. Emily and Kiley, the twins that often finished each others sentences. Erik, who happened to be Kiley's boyfriend, thanks to an introduction by Alex herself.

Fred, who was Alex's childhood best friend growing up, who was slightly jealous of her new kindling best friendship with Kerry, who just so happened to be the oldest of the group, a Native American girl from Texas, often dubbed the freaky new kid in school. She was in Alex's art class and the two hit it off, despite the girls more, scary appearance, with her short hair and extra ear piercings. Not to mention her love of leather jackets.

"Is everything alright, Lex?" Phoebe asked, placing a hand on Alex's arm in concern from her seat across the table.

"Why did Mr. Scouton want to talk to you after class?" Fred asked. "It's not like you're failing, you have a B in his class, which is better than pretty much everybody."

"Da man's got it out fer redheads," Erik said, taking Alex's lunch and picking out the cookies she always packed in it for him.

"Psh. You don't mess with a redheads, Eric," Kerry scoffed, her accent slowly fading the longer she hung out with them. "Good way to end up in a cornfield."

"Or the sewers," Kiley said. "I hear he was engaged to a redhead once, she called it off. That's why he hates all redheads."

"That sounds stupid. I'm not saying he has nothing against Lexi but hair color, I think, would be the last thing he'd be focused on." Kerry shrugged.

"Maybe zat vas vat attracted him in zee first place," Rudy said.

"He may just hold a grudge," Emily said. "I had this boyfriend once that would always bite his lip, I can't take another guy that bites his lip since!"

"So a psychological trigger?" Kerry asked.

"Can we not talk about Mr. Scouton having a thing for redheads?" Alex asked, sitting up. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it behind her ear so it wouldn't fall into her face. "It kind of creeps me out."

"I don't blame you," Kerry scoffed she bumped her with her elbow. "You sure he didn't do anything, darlin'?"

"I swear, Lexa, if he did anything I'll kill him," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Calm down, Freddy. He didn't do anything," Alex told him. "He asked me to tutor this home schooled kid. Said the dad called the school to see if he could get someone good. Apparently Scouton things I'm good enough to tutor the guy."

"Really? that doesn't sound too bad!" Kerry smirked. "'Sides, you're good with people Lexi."

"Yeah, but I already work two jobs," Alex said. "I work three nights a week at my parents dojo, and almost every day at Aunt April's antique store. Then there are martial arts competitions. Those in tutoring some guy and I'm never going to pass any of my classes!"

"We could help you," Kerry assured her. "I mean, I can ask your parents if I could take over your shifts at the dojo, I'm a high enough level to teach the youngins." Kerry said. She had joined the dojo soon after Alex had told her about it, having done martial arts back home. It was something else the girls just connected over.

"Or I could," Fred pressed. "I mean, I know your parents better and your brothers and I get along great.."

Alex rolled her eyes. _Here we go again,_ she thought. Ever since Alex and Kerry had become friends that year, Fred had become rather possessive of Alex, feeling his relationship with the redhead was threatened. Not to mention his massive crush on the girl that knew nothing about his true feelings. Alex was extremely clueless when it came to things like that. Everybody knew he liked her, except for, well, _her_.

"Uh, yeah sure," Kerry shrugged. "And if he does that I can talk to your Auntie about covering those shifts for you, I got nothin' better to do." She shrugged, home life less than ideal. "And you can use my notes from last year for your classes."

"Like she'd be able to read them," Fred scoffed.

Alex turned to Fred, smacking him on the back of the head for being rude. "Freddy," Alex warned. "Play nice." She then turned to Kerry and said, "Like I could read your handwriting."

"I don't know what y'all are talkin' about!" Kerry grumbled her cheeks turning a bit red. "I can read it just fine," she said a pout in place that caused the Twin's to gush and poke more fun at her.

"That southern teaching, I guess," Emily said with a laugh, following all the stereotypes she's heard about the south. Kerry's face froze a bit but flawlessly morphed into a fake grin.

"I guess so." She shrugged a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes, trying to get everybody back on topic. "That would really help. Thanks, guys."

"Right, so I'll come by after school and talk it up with your Aunt," Kerry said with an nod, glad the change the subject.

"And I'll talk to your parents. And I'm sure your brothers wouldn't mind having me around," Fred said.

"Yeah, they love you," Alex stated.

"Great!"Kerry smirked. "Glad we got it settled...'sides your brother Marcus keeps looking at me weird. I don't think he likes me much."

"More like the other way around," Alex laughed.

"Huh?" Kerry asked in confusion causing everyone to laugh. "What?!"

"Yeah," Alex said. "He's got a thing for you. Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" Kerry said. "I thought he was just,you know, one of those guys that joke flirts or what ever to be nice,"

"Oh, he flirts way too much with everybody, but he thinks your hot," Alex said.

"How did we get on this topic?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about what your brother finds hot, unless it's me," Emily said. "Because your brothers are _fiiiiine_."

"Ew," Alex said with a shiver.

"I have to agree, not my type." Kerry shook her head.

"Yeah, you're more into the smart guys," Alex said, nodding her head.

Fred scoffed. "Yeah, like they'd go for you."

"_Freddy_!" Alex yelled, smacking him on the back of the head again. "Be nice!"

"Yeah, I guess." Kerry shrugged her face blank again, no inflection in her tone. "I guess I'd be kinda scary to date," she said.

"I don't think so," Alex said, knowing very well that Kerry was taking it harder than she was letting on. "You just haven't found the guy yet. A lot of the smart guys here are stuck up."

"Lex, come on!" Emily laughed, not getting the heavy atmosphere. "She said it herself. No smart guy would go for a scary punk girl," Emily said.

"Emily," Kiley scolded. "Would you think I'd go out with Erik?" She turned her attention to Kerry, knowing very well how she must be feeling, seeing as Erik had been the same way. "Lex is right, Kerry. Just give it some time. Most guys in high school are jerks anyways. They're not mature enough for a serious relationship."

"Thanks, KK," Kerry said shooting the girl a crooked smile, always one to give people nicknames when they earned them. "I'm cool, though, on my own." she joked. "Easier to get into trouble that way." She winked.

"So, who's the guy you have to tutor?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, uh, his name's Michelangelo, or something," Alex said. "Hamato, I think. I'm going over there after school today to introduce myself."

"You're going over there alone?" Fred asked. "You don't know anything about these people. They could be kidnappers or rapist or something."

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're too overprotective," she said. "I'm fine, Freddy. Really. I can take care of myself."

"Still, text us when you get there and when you leave." Kerry shrugged. "Or if you need an out. Gotta watch your six, you know?"

"Guys, I'll be _fine_," she insisted. "I need less protective friends."

"Hey, you can go wherevah da hell ya want," Erik said. "I's know fer soil ya can take care o' youself."

"Thank you, Erik!" Alex said. "You guys should be more like Erik!"

"Hey, I know you kick butt better than most." Kerry chuckled. "Doesn't mean I don't want to be there watching your back."

"My back is fine," Alex said. "I'd be more worried about the other guy."

"Fine," Kerry chuckled. "I want to be there to watch you beat him up."

"Well, I don't plan on beating anybody up as of right now, so I'll let you know the next time something comes up," Alex chuckled.

"Perfect," Kerry grinned flicking her forehead.

"Hey, don't touch her like that," Fred said, grabbing Kerry's wrist.

"Freddy, it's fine," Alex said. "She was just messing around."

"You shouldn't let people do things like that to you," he insisted. "You're too special to let that happen."

"Uh, dude, mind letting go?" Kerry said, eyes narrowing. She had no issue with him being protective but she did _not_ like being touched.

"Uh, sorry," Fred muttered, letting go of.

"Yeah," Kerry grumbled pulling it away and going back to her food.

_Okay then,_ Alex thought, shaking her head. "So, uh," she started, trying to get everybody on a different topic to get away from the awkward air surrounding their table, "does anybody know what we're doing in PE with Mr. Smith today?"

"Him, hopefully," Emily said.

"Ew!" Kerry muttered. "I know he's cute but still! He's twice our age!"

"Yeah, I don't care," Emily said. "I'd tap that no matter the age difference."

"You are the horniest girl I have ever met," Fred pointed out. "Yet, you're not the sluttiest."

Kerry couldn't help but laugh. "Who get's that award?"

"Amanda," everybody at the table stated.

"Okay..." Kerry drew out. "I assume she is not a friend and I should avoid her?"

"She used to hang out in our group," Alex said. "She was okay until we got to high school. I just feel so bad for Arthur though."

"He has no idea she's cheated on him with almost all of the football, basketball, and lacrosse team," Kiley said.

"Uh, shouldn't someone tell him then? I mean better than let him suffer later on right?" Kerry asked raising an eyebrow.

"We's tried," Erik said.

"Yeah, he didn't believe us," Phoebe said.

"Arzur still holds her too high een his books," Rudy said. "She cannot do anyzing vrong."

"She's a master manipulator," Alex said. "We told him, he didn't believe us and told Amanda what we said. She got angry and threatened and that's why they stopped hanging out with us."

"Is there nothin' we can do?" Kerry asked, her sense of justice raising up to the surface again.

"She's too sneaky about where she hooks up with people," Fred said. "We've tried to get someone to admit it to Arthur, but they're too afraid of Amanda to do it."

"Well there's got to be someone not afraid of her." Kerry scoffed. "What can she do? Ruin your life? Big deal it's High School." She scoffed.

"Us, but like we said," Alex stared to say. "She's sneaky and I honestly don't want to be the person to stalk her and get photographic evidence." She shivered at the end of that. "Amanda comes from money and she sure knows how to use it."

"Poor Fella," Kerry grumbled. "And money can only go so far. Down in Texas… nevermind," Kerry started but stopped herself, having enough of the stereotype game today from other people in school.

"Hey, did anybody get what chapters Mr. Parker said we had to read for homework?" Phoebe asked. "I forgot to write it in my planner."

"Now dat's a teacha I would bang," Erik said.

"Erik!" Kiley scolded, smacking him on the arm.

"Hey, and she's not twice our age," Fred said. "She's only twenty-one."

"What, you got your eyes on Mr. Parker now?" Emily teased. "Don't do this to me, Freddy. You and Lex are my OTP!"

"_Emily_!" Alex barked, choking on her water.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Fred denied, blushing even darker than Alex's hair.

Kerry on the other hand started laughing, holding her ribs a bit. "Oh Bless my Heart!" she laughed.

"W-we would make a terrible couple," Fred rambled, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

"R-Right, he's my best friend," Alex said, going along with it.

"I-It would be like kissing my sister! We'd want to kill each other," Fred added.

Kerry only seemed to laugh harder, head laying on the table.

"But you two are so cute together!" Emily stated. "You two are so close, the only thing left is for you to admit your feelings for one another!"

_What feelings? He's like a brother! _"I think you've been watching too many Hallmark movies, Em."

"Things ain't like in the movies, darlin'" Kerry chuckled. "Two people of opposite genders can be best friends and have no thoughts of romance at all."

Fred glanced at Kerry, slouching in his chair slightly at that. He slouched even more when Alex said, "Right, Freddy and I are perfect as best friends. That's all. Right Freddy?"

"Uh, yeah," he muttered, looking away. "Whatever you say, Lexa."

"But you two would be cute together," Phoebe stated. "I don't see how it couldn't work."

"Vell, zere has to be attraction for it to vork," Rudy said. "Fred, do you zink Alex is pretty?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing over at the girl with a smirk. "My girl's beautiful."

"Awww, see what I mean!" Emily said. "He's just too sweet!"

"Alex?" Rudy asked. "Do you zink Fred is attractive?"

"Well, yeah," Alex said. "But that do-"

"So why couldn't it work?" Emily butted in.

"Attraction is only part of it," Kerry said slowly. "I like to think that there's something inside of us that just knows when we met someone we're meant to love you, know? You just, click for some unknown reason." She murmured. "Love is inexplainable."

"That's one of the most romantic things I have ever heard," Kiley said.

Kerry seemed to blush a bit. "Y-yeah, whatever," she said in a scoff and looked away.

"See, Freddy has no romantic feelings for me, and I have no romantic feelings for him," Alex said, a smile on her face. "End of story."

"Oh, I think this story is long from over," Kiley muttered, looking at Fred.

"Alright guys," Kerry said peeking at him as well and wanting to give the guy a break. "Bell is about to ring," she said.

"We don't want to be late for PE," Alex said.

"Hell no!" Emily said, jumping up from her seat. "What are you guys waiting for! I have a hotty to go goggle at."

"I can't believe I'm related to her," Kiley muttered.

"I'll see ya'll after school." Kerry chuckled as she stood up and gathered up her things, she barely had any classes with them since she was an upperclassman.

"See you later, fruitcake," Alex said.

"See ya, dorkfish." Kerry laughed and went on her way to toss her trash and head out.

"Why do we hang out with her?" Fred asked Alex, putting his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the lunch room. It was rather common for him to do that whenever they walked to class together. She wrapped the arm closer to him around his waist, thinking nothing of it.

"Because she adds a little excitement to our lives," Alex told him.

"Do we really need any more of that?" he asked.

"She's cool, Freddy," Alex said. "Plus, I like her and she needs some friends. She doesn't know that many people here yet."

"Maybe there's a reason she doesn't have any friends," Fred said. "I mean, she doesn't exactly present herself in a good manner."

"So she's a little rough around the edges," Alex said with a shrug. "Doesn't mean she's a bad person. She's really sweet when you get to know her like I have. People just need to give her a chance."

"She's more than a little rough," Fred scoffed. "She walks around all high and mighty all the time. I'm sure she'll just be another Amanda."

"That's an easy one to answer," Alex said. "She has self esteem problems. And no, she's not another Amanda. That's a horrible thing to say, Freddy."

"I'm just saying, Lexa," Fred said. "I don't trust her."

"You trust me, right?" Alex asked, having an ulterior motive to that question.

"With my life," Fred said automatically.

"Well, I trust Kerry," Alex said. "So if you trust me, I trust you, I trust Kerry and Kerry trusts me, then you should trust her."

"It doesn't work that way, Lexa and you know it," he said.

"Okay, how about this," Alex said. She took his hand and pulled him over to the side so they could talk. They have about three more minutes until the late bell rang so they had enough time. "Can you try and be nice to her, for me?"

Fred breathed through his nose, taking a moment to himself. "...For you." He said. "I won't like it but I'll try."

Alex smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thanks, Freddy." She pulled back and grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hallway. "Come on, we don't want to be late for class."

_You are going to be the death of me, Alexandra O'Neil,_ Fred thought, shaking his head as she pulled him along.


	2. The Boys

Chapter 2! And the guys make their first appearance in this one. Thanks to StillDoll13 for her help in this and for co-writing. Anyways, hope you guys like this and please, PLEASE review. Thanks!

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Chapter 2  
The Boys 

"No, Kerry," Alex said, talking to the girl over the phone. "I don't need backup."

"_You sure?"_ Kerry chuckled a bit. "_I mean, we'd make a kick-ass team."_

"You know what?" Alex said. "I think you and I would kill each other quicker than Fred and I would."

"_No worries, I don't roll that way. And If I did you wouldn't be my type."_ Kerry chuckled.

"Hey, I'm smart!" Alex defended. "And I didn't' mean it like _that_."

"_I don't like redheads,"_ she teased.

"_Ouch_," Alex laughed. "I don't know if I should be relieved or offended."

"_Be a little of both!"_ Kerry chuckled. "_Oh, your Auntie says hi by the way," _ she said. Like promised, she went to April offering to cover her shift for her. Kerry had a thing for old stuff, taking after her mom who was an Archaeologist, so she felt right at home in the old shop.

"Give her my love," Alex said as she slowly came to a stop in front of an oddly placed building. It had Japanese architecture, so it seemed a little out of place in the big city. She looked down at the little piece of paper in her hand with the address on it. _Well, this is it._ "And I've got to go. I think I've found the place."

"_No, all your love is mine,"_ Kerry said pretending to laugh maniacally. "_...Yeah, customers are looking at me weird. See ya Dorkfish."_

"Buy fruitcake," Alex said.

Alex slid her phone back into her back pocket and walked up the steps of the large gate, making her way to the large carved door. She examined it for a moment, taking in the beautiful hand carved frozen dragons dancing across the wood. It was truly beautiful, something Alex could appreciate, as well as April.

She knocked on the door, feeling bad about having to be slightly violent to get even the slightest noise to sound. She stood there for what seemed like ten minutes when the door suddenly opened rather quickly, making the girl step back in defense, afraid whoever it was would run into her if they bolted out the door.

Her green eyes blinked up, falling into a stare with grayish-blue eyes. The eyes belonged to a pale skinned teenage boy, around the same age as Alex, though about four or five inches taller than her 5'4" frame. He seemed just as shocked as she was to see her, moving his slightly shaggy black hair out of his eyes.

"Hello," he said, once recovering from shock. His voice was patient and soft, though curious to figure out why the girl was there, which made it sound a little firmer. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes, actually," Alex said. "Is this the Hamato residence?"

"Yes," he answered, knitting his eyebrows together. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I'm Alex," she said, sticking her hand out to shake, his hand was much larger than her, with long fingers and calloused palms and a strong grip. "I'm here to tutor Michelangelo. You wouldn't happen to be him, would you?"

"Oh, no," he said with a slight laugh. The boy smiled, lighting up his eyes. "I'm Leonardo, but you can call me Leo. Mikey would be my brother. Uh, please, come in." He moved out of the way, holding the door open for the redhead to enter.

"Thank you," she said, entering. She took her shoes off, seeing that it was a very traditional looking Japanese home where they always took their shoes off. She placed them in front of the step where the other shoes were, her's seeming oh so small compared to the several pairs of boys sneakers resting.

"This way," he said, leading her down the large hallway and stopped in front of a sliding screen door. "My father would like to speak with you first," Leonardo said.

"Of course," Alex said. "Thank you," she added when Leonardo opened the screen door for her. She entered, turning back when he shut the door behind her. She shrugged and entered, taking up a cushion in front of the older man sitting on one of the other cushions.

He was wearing a long, deep red kimono, a walking stick sitting on the ground next to him as he meditated. She turned her head at him, examining his older, wise, though still smooth face. He looked like a very wise, kind man to Alex, and she normally wasn't wrong when she studied people.

"Thank you for coming, Alexandra," the man said, pulling the girl out of her thoughts.

"Tanoshimi**,** Hamato-sama," Alex said with a bow, feeling as if she was required to do so, knowing what the correct Japanese response would be to show the man respect. "Domo arigato. It's an honor to provide my services. I hope to learn a lot by doing so."

The man smiled down at her, surprised at her use of Japanese, the smile reaching his brown eyes. "I hope it is a learning experience for us all," he told her.

Alex thought that curious, but didn't question it. "May I meet Michelangelo now?"

"Yes, of course," he said. "Leonardo?" he asked, and the door opened once more. "Please introduce Alexandra to your brothers."

"Yes, Master Splinter," Leo said, bowing to his father.

Alex bowed to the older man. "Thank you for your time," she said. She stood up and left the room, following Leonardo back down the hall and through another screen door to what looked like a game room.

Alex slowly entered, her green eyes scanning the room just like they did everywhere she went. There was one boy to her left at a work area, several test tubes and he had his head in a very large book, his brown eyes quickly scanning the pages behind what looked like reading glasses. His slightly long brown hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, making sure it would stay out of his face as he bit his lip, concentrating on whatever it was he was doing.

_Yeah, that's definitely Kerry's type,_ Alex thought, studying the guy one last time before she shifted her gaze.

Across the room at what looked like a small workout area was another teenagers, a tall, muscular guy with thick arms and a broad chest. His deep red hair, much like Alex's, though even darker, was spiked up using hair gel. He was pale, much like the other two and clearly toned. He stopped beating the punching bag and looked up, glaring at Alex for some reason. Alex blushed, looking away from the shirtless boy, though slightly ticked off at the uncalled for glare.

Lastly, across the room from the door were several couches and beanbags, with a large television and several gaming systems. There were shelves lining the wall, littered with movies and video game cases of all kinds. A curly haired blond turned his head, freckles dusting over his nose and cheeks, light and playful green eyes meeting her's. he jumped up over the back of the couch and made his way to girl.

"Hi, Dudette!" he said, moving to wrap the girl into a warm hug, but Alex quickly ducked and skirted to the side. "Sorry," he said with a smirk, though he didn't look all to sorry whatsoever. "I'm Mikey."

Alex smiled at him, sticking her hand out for him to shake. "Hi, Mikey. I'm Alex."

"That's your name?" the red headed boy. "Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Well, isn't that a very sexist thing to say," Alex pointed out, her voice sounding ever so polite even though what she had said wasn't so.

"Well you look like a boy to me," he said with a shrug, going back to the punching back. "Talk big like one too."

Alex narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, unknowingly pulling her shirt down enough to show a bit of cleavage, which caught the attention of every male in there. _Why you little…_

Leo cleared his throat, looking away. "Raph, she's our guest," Leo stated. He didn't sound like he approved at all of what the boy had said. "Be respectful."

"Whatever," Raph scoffed.

"The guy with the mouth is Raphael," Mikey told her.

"I'm Donatello," Donatello introduced, walking over from his station. He shook her hand, a light blush on his cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you, Donatello," Alex said, taking his hand. _Isn't he just the sweetest?_ Alex thought. _Kerry would just melt!_

"We call him Don or Donny for short," Mikey said, wrapping an arm around said boy's shoulder, pulling him down slightly, since Mikey was shorter than Don.

"Doesn't give her the right to call him that," Raph said. "She doesn't know him."

"It's okay," Don said. "You can call me either. Donatello's a mouthful."

"That same reason I tell people to call me Alex," she told him, a soft smile on her face. "Plus, Alexandra is too formal. I'm more of an Alex."

"So a boy?" Raph said.

"You can keep going," Alex said, "but I've heard it all. I have four older brothers."

Mikey jumped up, arms above his head. "Finally," he exclaimed. "Someone who understands! Except, I only have three, but you still get it. "

Alex laughed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Try being the youngest and only girl," Alex said. "Being teased is the least of my problems. Trying bring home a date."

Don hence sympathetically. "Yep, a living hell, I imagine." He chuckled, blushing as he realized he swore in front of a lady. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alex told, patting him on the arm. "One of my best friends has the mouth of a sailor."

"Cool," Mikey said with a smirk.

"Uh, do you mind if we get down to business?" she asked. "I don't have a lot of time. I just wanted to come introduce myself and to come up with a schedule."

"Sure," Mikey said. "Come on over to my domain!"

"That couch is your domain?" Alex asked, eyebrow raised. She sat down on the couch, one leg crossed over the other.

"Oh yeah!" Mikey said. "I do all my best work on the couch. Like getting all the high scores on our video games."

"You sound like my brother Zack," Alex said.

"Cool," he said he said, obviously loving talking to her.

"Okay, so I have a busy schedule, but I'm pretty sure I can work around whatever you've got," she said.

"Well, we're free most of the time," Mikey said. "We have training before we do our homeschooling, and after, but what time do you get out of school."

"14:30," Alex answered.

"Military time?" Leo asked.

"Uh, yeah," Alex said, adding a shrug to show that it wasn't really a big deal. "Something I picked up from my father."

"Yeah, we're done by then," Mikey said nodding.

"Cool," Alex said. "Any idea on how long you think we should work?" she asked, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. Alex pulled it out and and smirked when she saw it was Kerry. _Uhg, I can't believe she changed her contact name again._

**Homosexual Partner: So was Freddie boy right? Are they freaky rapists? =p**

**Alex: No, they're actually really cool. One of them is your type, I think. ;)**

"I don't know," Mikey said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, Don! How long do you think she should be here? You're the one that failed at tutoring me before."

"You tutored him before?" Alex asked.

"He's our resident genius," Mikey said.

Don blushed, walking over from his work station, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, but I'm not the best at dumbing down science stuff," Don said. "An hour or so should be fine, depending on how the lesson goes."

**Homosexual Partner: ...your face needs to begin being shut please!**

"Hey, tutoring isn't for everybody," Alex said. "My friend Phoebe tried tutor my other friend Erik and she couldn't do it. That's how I started tutoring him."

**Alex: Fruitcake.**

"Is he your boyfriend?" Mikey asked he winked at her.

"_Michelangelo!_" Leo scolded from his place on a meditation mat.

Alex chuckled, a blush on her face. "No, it's okay. Erik's just my friend. He's dating my friend Kiley, actually."

"You have a lot of friends," he said in wonder.

"No, just a couple really good ones," she said. "But thank you."

**Homosexual Partner: Dorkfish**

"You're _gay_?" Mikey asked, mouth hanging open in shock. "And your girlfriend calls you Dorkfish?"

"Knew it!" Raph exclaimed with a loud laugh.

"No, I'm not gay!" Alex stated. She shot up and turned to Raph, hands on her hips. "What the hell made you think I was gay?"

"Your name," he said, crossing his arms, making his way across his chest, as he made his way to where she was. He stood behind the couch, smirking down at her.

Alex walked around the couch, getting right up in front of Raph. He was a good head taller than her, but that didn't stop her from glaring at getting right up in his business. "And that's all?" Alex asked, tilting her head to the side, which Raph seemed to take oddly, though Alex wasn't exactly sure why. She ignored it, however, and went on. "There is no reason why being called Alex would make me _gay_."

"Butch," he said, trying to insult her.

"Hothead," she shot back, glaring even harder.

He opened his mouth to shoot back another name, but was interrupted by Leonardo. He put his hand on his brother's arm, which was quickly shook off. "Come on, Raph. Don't be a jerk."

"If you're not gay, who is it?" Mikey asked, trying to get to a different topic. "The girl that texted you, I mean."

"Oh," Alex said, turning her head to look at Mikey next to her on the couch. "It's my friend Kerry. She likes to change her contact name on me all the time."

"And she calls you a Dorkfish?" Mikey laughed.  
"There's a reason why I call her a Fruitcake," Alex told him.

"Maybe _you're _the fruitcake," Raph chuckled.

Alex didn't move to look at him. "I'm choosing to ignore that." Instead, she took out her phone and pulled up her calendar. "Okay, so does 15:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays sound good to you?"

"Sure," Mikey said.

Alex put the phone back in her pocket and looked at Mikey's playful blue eyes. "Okay, so have everything ready when I come on Monday, we'll go over what you covered that day and then we'll do homework," Alex started to explain. "And if everything goes smoothly, if you need any help with any other subjects I'd be more than happy to help you with those, as long as we get through what we need to first."

"Cool," Mike said.

"_We have to take our clothes off. We have to party all night. We have to take our clothes off to have a good time, oh no!"_

Alex smirked as she heard Gym Class Heros playing on her phone, telling her that Fred was calling. She pulled her phone out and asked, "Do you guys mind if I take this?"

"Your girlfriend?" Raph asked, smirk firmly in place.

Alex rolled her eyes and then smirked thinking, _Oh, I can get him good with this. _She pressed Talk and said, "Hey, Freddy. What's up, hon?" Alex has to hold back her laughter as almost everybody in the room looked at her with wide eyes.

"_Hey, Lexa,"_ Fred answered. "_How'd the meeting go with that Milo guy?"_

"Mikey, actually," she corrected. Mikey perked up hearing his. She winked at the boy saying. "And he's cool. I think it'll be fun working with him."

"_That's a relief," _Fred said with a countable sigh. "_I was afraid I'd have to kick someone's ass." _

_No, but_ I _might just have to,_ Alex thought, referring to Raph. She glanced over at the redhead before she went on. "No, but it's sweet of you."

"_Hey, I'd do anything for you, remember?"_

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked, meaning every word. It was just a bonus when Raph huffed and went back to beating the punching bag.

"_It's me that doesn't deserve you, Lexa,"_ Fred said.

"Oh, hey, I forgot to ask you today if we still on for Friday night at Franco's?" Alex asked.

Franco's was the local place most of the teenagers went to hang out. It was a pizza place, an arcade, an underage club where everything was non alcoholic and drug free. It was the best hangout place and it was where Alex and her friends hung out most of the time, chilling, joking around and sometimes dancing.

"_Yeah, I think we're all meeting up at five," _he told her.

"Cool," Alex. "I've got to go, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Freddy?"

"_Plan on it, Lexa,"_ Fred said. "_Be careful on your walk home, okay?" _

"Always am," Alex said. "Bye."

"_See you tomorrow."_

Alex hung up and put the phone in her pocket. She looked, up Mikey staring at her with a wide mouth. She raised a brow at him, not exactly sure what his problem was. "What?" she asked.

"Is that how girl's flirt with their boyfriends all the time?" Mikey asked honestly. "Because if it is, I really need to get out more and get a girlfriend."

Alex chuckled. "Well, that wasn't flirty and Freddy's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend."

"Can I be your new best friend then?" he asked. "You can talk to me like that any, every and all day long."

"Mikey! Be respectful," Leonardo scolded, reminding her of herself with her own brothers. She was always the one to try and keep them in check.

"It's okay, Leo," Alex said. "That's sweet of you, Mikey, but I'm not really in the market right now."

"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying!" he said with a shrug.

She chuckled and shook her head. Several strands of hair fell down in her face and she moved them back behind her ear with one hand. "I've got to head out, but I'll see you tomorrow at 15:00 sharp," Alex said.

"Definitely!" Mikey said.

"It was nice meeting you guys," Alex said, turning to both Leo and Don. She then turned to Raph and said, "Couldn't say the same about you."

"Likewise, Butch."

Alex rolled her eyes and gave one last wave before leaving the Hamato residence. She hadn't exactly expected that when she went there, but that sure was a lot to take in. She smirked though, thinking about the brothers.

_Oh, this will be fun. I can already tell._


	3. Day 1

Chapter 3  
Day 1

"Thanks again for filling in for me at April's last night, Kerry," Alex said, leaning up against Freddy's chest.

The group of friends were sitting in the hallway where most of their lockers were grouped together. Fred was sitting with his back against his locker, legs spread apart where Alex was sitting, his arms wrapped around her waist to be more comfortable. Her arms her gently over his, her backpack sitting beside her, Fred's right next to it.

Kerry was sitting across the hall, against her locker, legs crossed in front of her, arms crossed in front of her chest. Emily was sitting beside her, Kiley and Erik were standing at the locker they shared. Rudy and Phoebe were sitting next to Alex and Fred, Phoebe sitting on Rudy's lap while he played with her finders.

"It's no problem," Kerry said. "I really enjoy working there with April." She smiled, remembering what she had done that night. "There are so many interesting things in the shop from all over the world."

"I know, I love April's place," Alex said.

"So, tell us about Milo," Fred said.

"_Mikey_," she corrected, just like she had the day before when he had said it wrong over the phone. "And he was adorable. As sweet as can be. Same with two of his brothers. They were incredibly respectful. The third on the other hand…"

"The one with an attitude problem?" Kerry asked remembering the texts between the two.

"Yeah, can you believe he called me a butch? He swore I was gay too! Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, it's just, I'd rather not be accused of it if I'm now, you know?" Alex rambled, getting just as worked up as she had been when the event actually happened.

"Yeah I totally get it." Kerry nodded.

"Why dah hell did he think yous was gay?" Erik asked.

"Apparently going by Alex makes me gay," Alex said, leaning away from Fred a little as she gestured with her hand enthusiastically. "And the way I talk. What the hell does that even mean?"

"Some guys are just intimidated by girls who talk confidently and openly like a guy." Kerry shrugged. "That's probably it."

_Confident, yeah right, _Alex thought. Kerry and Fred both knew that Alex wasn't as confident as she talked. The others didn't know, and Alex didn't want them too, but Kerry and Freddy knew Alex far too well to not notice. They kept it from the others to make the girl feel better, but tried to work on getting her more comfortable with herself.

"Imagine what he would have said if he knew we all call you Lex," Emily thought out loud. "That could have ended badly."

"I don't even want to think about that!" Alex laughed humorlessly.

"Hey," Fred said, pulling her attention to him. "The guy's an ass. Don't listen to him."

"Easier said than done," Alex muttered, leaning back on him more.

"Hey," Kerry started. "Have y'all heard about all the increased gang activity lately? It was all over the news."

"Stupid Purple Dragons," Phoebe muttered. "They scare the living daylights out of me."

The Purple Dragons was a gang that was quickly gaining power in New York City. They were also gaining the worst reputation, or the best, depending on who was looking at it. They were brutal. They're rob banks and innocent old ladies, gun down anybody that threatened them, or just to make a statement. They rapped people just for the fun of it. They were filthy monsters, giving dragons a bad name.

"You're safe," Rudy told her, kissing her forehead.

"A lot of people are bein' hurt," Kerry murmured looking down, a softer side showing for once. "Somethin' has got to give here," she said sadly.

"I know," Emily said. "It's like the cops aren't doing anything."

"Or it's too much for them," Alex said. "They're understaffed as is with all of the budget cuts and whatnot. You can't expect them to keep up the same work with fewer officers and less equipment."

"I said somethin' gotta give," Kerry murmured. "Not that it would be a good kind of give."

"It's just provided the perfect playing field for the Purple Dragons," Alex said. "Someone's got to do something."

"Like who?" Emily asked. "Superheroes don't exist. Though I wouldn't mind getting me a Super-man, that's for sure. "

"I think society will eventually even out. I mean, it somehow seems to do that in the past," Kerry said.

"Yeah, but what's the death toll on that?" Alex asked. "Can we really just sit here while they rob banks and shoot people down in the street just because they feel like it? It doesn't feel right."

"I know, but what can _we_ do?" Kerry sighed. "Don't think I like sitting around doing nothing about this," She said seriously.

"Don't go doing what I think you're thinking about doing," Freddy whispered in her ear.

"I'm not thinking about anything," Alex said truthfully. "I have no idea what I would do."

Kerry was quiet before she turned her head to look at Alex. She reached out and touched her cheek before patting it slowly. "Alex," she seemed to play whisper. "Aaaalex!" she said again in an even louder play whisper.

"What Fruitcake?" Alex asked, eyebrow raised.

"That escalated quickly," she said flopping over so her head was in her lap.

"What escalated quickly?" the redhead asked.

"How sexy you are," Kerry said and the others laughed, her goal of breaking the tension working.

"I don't understand you, Medina." Fred told her.

"Cause I'm unbelieveable!" she said and patted his cheeks. "I shall teach you the ways, young padawan."

"Yeah, I think I'm good," he said, resting his chin on Alex's shoulder, pulling her closer in a protective way. He didn't want to share Alex, not one bit. But he was trying to be nicer to Kerry, though it didn't seem like it.

The bell rang through the halls, echoing. The group stood up, not wanting to be late for class. Alex turned around, helping Fred up from where he sat. He grabbed her bag and put it over one of his shoulder before grabbing his other one.

"I can carry that, you know," Alex said.

"I know," Fred said with a shrug. "But I want to."

"Well, aren't you sweet," Alex said, kissing his cheek, something she had started doing when she was little.

Kerry bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She was so clueless!

"Yeah," He grumbled a bit, shooting Kerry a look. "Sweet. Let's go," he said wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her to class, eager to leave the older girl behind.

"I'm really looking forward to going to Franco's tonight," Alex said. "I haven't been able to go that last couple times we all went."

"It was boring without you there, ya know?" He said. "It will be great to have you there again."

"You flatter me so," Alex said, hip bumping him as they walked.

"It's my job," he joked. "And I'm good at it."

"How is it your job?" Alex asked. "You're my best friend, not my boyfriend."

"So?" he grumbled, a bit irked at that distinction. "'Sides not like you have one, so I got to pick up the slack."

"I don't think that's how it works, but whatever floats your boat, Freddy," Alex said.

"It floats my boat very well."

"As long as it makes you happy, who am I to stop you?" Alex asked.

"What if you are what makes me happy?" Fred asked her.

Alex had absolutely no idea what he truly meant by that. "You make me happy too," Alex said, completely clueless.

"...good." Fred said and put on a smile, knowing she had no idea what he meant.

* * *

Alex stood once again in front of the beautiful door of the Hamato residence. She had her backpack over her shoulder, lazily leaning her weight onto one leg, arms crossed loosely over her chest as she waited patiently for someone to answer the door. The sound of footsteps soon sounded, coming down the hallway at a patient pace. It opened up slowly, less hastily than Leo yesterday. Don smiled down at here.

"Hey Alex!" he chirped in greeting. "Come on in!" he said stepping back and holding to door open for her.

Alex smiled up at him and moved around him to get inside. "Thanks Don," she said. "How are you today?"

"Oh, I'm doing good." He answered closing the door behind her. "Just finished with all my projects. How are you doing?" he asked her in return.

"I'm well, thanks for asking," Alex said, following Don down the hallway. They entered into the large common room where she had met with them before.

"I managed to hide all his handheld games," Don whispered to her. "So you should have all his attention," he chuckled.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. "Thanks for that," she said. "I appreciate it."

"Hi Alex!" Mikey yelled, running over to her from his "domain."

"Mikey remember what we talked about," Don said stepping between him and Alex before he could jump on her.

"No, tackle hugs." Mikey murmured softly, crossing his arms a bit. Don nodded and stepped away muttering good luck to Alex before going over to his work station.

Alex has to hold back more laughter. She found these brothers far too amusing. She shook her head and turned to Mikey, "Okay, so we all set to get to work?"

"Oh yeah!" Mikey said. "Step into my domain!"

"Oh, I remembered your domain," Alex said. "Okay, so let me see your lesson you went through today and we can start from here."

Alex read over the lesson plan that the had gone over that day before she started to explain it in a different way to see if Mikey took it in better than how the lesson explained it. He didn't seem to take it as well as Alex had hoped, so she moved on to taking out a notebook and writing down a couple chemical formulas and acronyms for some of the different ways to remember some of the equations.

The two worked on that for able thirty minutes, Mikey absorbing the information better than the first time, telling her he was more of a hands on learner, which meant she had to come up with more hands on activities for them to do for the next time she went over there to work with him.

They moved on to his homework next, but he didn't need all that much help. He sat on the floor in front of the coffee table, legs crossed, tongue sticking out slightly to the side as he worked. Alex smiled down at him from her spot on the couch, unable to stop herself from grinning at the adorableness.

Alex glanced up when the door of the room opened up. Leo walked in first, dressed in a deep blue pair of gym shorts, headphones still in his ears. He looked up and saw Alex and smiled, giving her a small wave before walking off to the the gym area.

Behind Leo walked in Raph, who was wearing a pair of black and red shorts, headphones in his ears. Alex's eyes lowered from his sweat covered face to his bare, strong chest. He was covered in sweat, which wasn't all that attractive except it made his muscles all shiny and Alex couldn't couldn't help but drop her mouth slightly, face growing redder by the second.

Raoh glanced up, much like Leo has, and his green eyes fell on Alex. He glared, but then smirked seeing her stare. "Butch," he said. He was going to go on, but Alex interrupted him.

With an extremely red face, Alex glared and said, "Ralph."

Raph glared, his green eyes blazing like greek fire. "Tch." he grumbled as he stalked past her. Oh, Alex knew she wasn't going to get away with that comment, especially when she noticed that glint in his eyes. "Maybe you're not gay after all, since you have such good taste," he smirked motioning to his upper body.

"Why you…." Alex trailed off.

"I know the sight of me makes girls go speechless. But do your job and help my brother, Butch," he scoffed a bit as he went over to his punching bag.

"You cocky, pigheaded…"

"Alex?" Mikey asked, pulling the girl's attention back down to him. "Can you help me with this problem?"

She gave one last glare at Raph before she looked down at Mikey's homework. "Of course, Mikey," Alex said. "Let me see."

"Thanks!" The younger boy smiled. "How was your day?" He asked in passing, wanting to cheer her up after the talk with his brother seeming to rile her up.

"Uh, it was okay," Alex said. "Nothing was really out of the ordinary."

"What's public school like?"

Alex never really knew how to describe it. She had just kind of always been there. It was a part of her every day life. "Well," Alex said. "It's, well, I don't know how to describe it. It's kind of loud and busy. Uh, there are a lot of jerks, but I've got a good group of friends."

"It must be really cool!" Mikey chirped looking at her in excitement. "Seeing all of those people and getting to hang with your friends all day. Even if you have to work too."

"We don't need people. We've got family," Raph said from across the room, narrowing his eyes at his brother before shooting a look at Alex that told her to be quiet.

"Well, you're going to have to learn to socialize with other people eventually," Alex said.

"_We_ know how to socialize," Mikey laughed. "Raph's a social dud!" To which Alex laughed.

"Don't make me hit you, Michelangelo!"

"Guys please don't fight in front of Alex," Leo sighed from his spot on the meditation mat.

"Here we go," Don sighed.

"What do you guys do for fun after you're done with training and home schooling?" Alex asked. "Do you have friends you hang out with?"

"Uh, well, u-uh," Donatello said biting his lip. "Not really. School and training is time consuming."

"Our family has always been very family centric." Leo explained. "Family is the most important thing."

"Well, I get family centric," Alex said, nodding her head. "All of my brothers and I work at my parents business and I also work a second job at my Aunt's antique store."

"Wow," Mikey said. "When do you have time for anything else?"

Alex shrugged. "Uh, it's hard," she admitted, nodding her head. "But like I said, I have good friends. My best friends both offered to help fill in for me when I need to come help you, but I think I've worked it out so that I don't start work until after our meetings."

"Oh, sorry if I caused any problems," Mikey apologized.

Alex laughed, messing up Mikey's curly blond hair. "It's no problem at all, Mikey. I work Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays at my parents and every day except those and Fridays, I work with April."

"April's your aunt, right? The one your friend covered for you with?"

"Yeah," Alex answered. "She's my dad's youngest sister. There's also Aunt Robyn, she's his other sister."

"What's it like having Aunts?" Mikey asked, full of questions, happy to have someone new to talk to. "We don't have any, or uncles, or cousins for that matter."

"It's cool, I guess," she said. "Robyn lives in California so we don't get to talk all that often, but April and I can talk about anything. She's great. And no cousins. Robyn's that stereotypical crazy irresponsible aunt and April's only twenty-three."

"We don't need your life story," Raph said. "Mikey quit chatting it up and stop telling her things she doesn't need to know."

"It's no problem," Alex said, ignoring Raph and telling that to Mikey. "Don't listen to him, Mike. It's nice to talk to someone new about this kind of stuff."

"Sometimes we get a bit stir crazy," Leo agreed. "Brothers, you know?" he said joining in as a warning to Raph to chill out. "We can only stand each other for so long. But we're tight."

"I know that all too well," Alex said. "Four brothers, remember?"

"But at least you have some...how do I put this without sounding offensive," Don grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Feminine influence to counter balance the testosterone. We've never had that."

"Oh," Alex said, realizing what he was saying. _They don't have a mother…_ "Well, if you guys ever want to get that fill, you're more than welcome to come over to my place and meet my mom. She'd love you guys, she always loves it when I bring people over. She likes to make them feel at home by mothering them."

"Really?" Don asked blinking. "T-That sounds great."

"She sounds wonderful," Leo grinned at her. "We'd be happy to meet her, so would Master Splinter."

"That sounds awesome!" Mikey yelled jumping up with his fists in the air.

"Sit down, Mikey!" Raph said narrowing his eyes at Alex. "We don't need anyone's sympathy or someone to pretend to be our mom. We have each other and that's all we need!"

"I wasn't implying anything like that," Alex said, trying to keep her cool. She knew that this was a sensitive subject. She didn't want to get worked up over it. Raph, though not completely, _did _have a right to react the way he was.

"_Don't let me get me. I'm my own worst enemy. Its bad when you annoy yourself _

_So irritating-"_  
"Do you guys mind?" Alex asked, holding up her phone.

"Go ahead," Mikey said.

"Thanks," she told him. She answered the call. "Hey, Fruitcake."

"_Hey, Dorkfish, are you almost done?" _

"Yeah, just about ten more minutes. Why?"

"_I was just wondering if you wanted to get ready for tonight at my place or if I can come over and get ready at yours," _Kerry asked a bit shyly.

"Oh, that sounds cool," Alex said. "You haven't actually gone to Franco's with us before, have you?"

"_Nope, I only feel comfortable if you go, and you haven't gone the last couple of times. So this is a first."_

"Oh, you'll have a great time," Alex said. "I'm making you dance with me tonight."

"_Do you want someone to get hurt, woman?"_

"Oh, come on," Alex said, laughing. "It's not that hard. We all make total fools of ourselves. Plus, it's kind of more like club dancing."

"Club dancing?" Mikey asked, head shooting up from his homework. "Can I come?"

"_Fine fine, but Fred and You are NOT allowed to make fun of me...and you have to let me put makeup on you."_

"Yeah, there is no way you're getting makeup on me," Alex said.

Alex heard Raph scoff. She glanced up, glaring at him. "Maybe you'd actually look like a girl then."

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, standing up.

"_Is it that guy? He talkin' shit?" _Kerry asked. "_Tell him he can suck my-"_

Don walked over and leaned on the back of the couch. "Raph, come on," Don said. "That was mean. Alex is really pretty." Don froze, realizing what he had said. He turned to Alex and added, "Well, in a sisterly kind of way. Not in an I'm-totally-attracted-to-you kind of way." He turned, smacking himself on the forehead as if they couldn't see before turning back around. "Not that you're not attractive in the datable sense. I-I'm going to shut up now."

"Smoooooth, Donatello," Leo chuckled. "I think she understand you," He said winking at Alex good heartedly.

Alex laughed, patting Don on the arm to make him feel better. "I getcha, Don. Don't worry."

"_Are you ignoring me?!"_

"Yes, I am ignoring you, Fruitcake," Alex said.

"_You know, I need a healthy dose of attention to live. You could kill me that way, you know._

"You'll get a whole lot of attention at Franco's tonight," Alex said. "Trust me. You're hot stuff, Kerry."

"See, totally gay for this girl!" Raph said motioning towards her.

"_We'll see if it's attention I like," _Kerry joked with her. "_So, plan on you coming here or me to your place?"_

"My place in, say…" She looked down at her watch to see what time it was. "Thirty minutes?"

"_You got it, Dorkfish. See you in thiry."_

"Bye Fruitcake," Alex said, hanging up the phone. She put her phone in her pocket and stood up, grabbing her bag off of the ground. "Okay, I've got to head out. But we got through a lot today, Mikey. Good work."

"Thanks, Alex," Mikey said. "Hey, have fun tonight with your friends. I'm sure it'll be cool."

Alex smiled down at him. "Yeah, Franco's is the best. And hey, you guys should come by sometime. I'm sure you'd like it."

"That's my kind of place!" Mikey agreed. "Dancing is awesome!"

"I-I'm not that good," Don muttered rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sure I'd end up embarrassing myself."

She walked around the back of the couch and turned to Don when she heard that. "Nah," Alex said, giving him a side hug. "I'm sure you've got some killer moves!"

"Why would we want to hang out with you and your stupid girlfriend?" Raph started only to be interrupted by Leo.

"Maybe we will sometime." Leo smiled at her. "Like you said, maybe we do need to socialize outside the family more."

"My friends would love you guys," Alex said. "Feel free to drop by any time, but right now, I've got to head out. I'll see you Monday!"

"Bye Alex!" Don and Mikey called out after her.

"See you soon," Leo smiled while Raph only huffed and went back to practicing.


	4. Franco's

Chapter 4

Franco's

* * *

Kerry had entered Alex's apartment just minutes after she did, knocking twice before just walking in.

"Howdy, O'Neils," she announced into the air, to inform them her presence. She had a duffel bag of her cloths and make up over her shoulder.

"Kerry," Marcus said, walking by on his way to his bedroom, checking his sister's best friend out as he went.

"Hey there Marcus." Kerry said, not blinking at his once over of her.

"Dude, seriously?" Alex asked her brother, grabbing Kerry by the arm to pull her towards her bedroom. "_Best friend_. Shouldn't there be a code for that or something?"

"There is, and it says if your sister has a hot friend, you check her out," he chuckled a bit.

"Marcus, I swear you are going to get sued someday!" Alex called, slamming her bedroom door shut.

The redheaded girl leaned against the tan painted wall next to her door for a moment before Alex rolled her eyes as she made her way to her bed with her black comforter and maroon, black and crimson colored pillows. She sat down, huffing at her second oldest brother.

"He doesn't mean anything by it," Kerry said will a roll of her eyes as she plopped down next her and digging around in her bag, triple checking that she had brought everything.

"Doesn't mean it doesn't creep me out any less," Alex said. She changed the conversation by looking over Kerry's shoulder and into the bag. "What did you bring?"

"That new white corseted top with the black flower print I ordered 2 months ago." She grinned. "Came in last week. Oh," she said and pulled out some green fabric. "I saw this shirt in my closet and thought it's a great color on you."

"Oh, it's cute," Alex said, holding it up to her chest, making her way over to the full length mirror over by her dresser. "Thanks, Fruitcake."

"No problem, Dorkfish," Kerry said. "I thought an off the shoulder would show off that neck of yours too," she said and began pulling out her clothes to change into.

Alex let Kerry take the bathroom as Alex changed in her room into the green off the shoulder top and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. She was messing with her hair, trying to figure out what to do with it when Kerry came into the room again dressed in her corseted top that framed her figure nicely. She tossed a black quarter sleeve jacket over it and paired the outfit with shorts and a pair of thigh high socks.

"Well, look at you, hot stuff," Alex told her friend.

"Thanks," Kerry chuckled. "Being a punk sometimes has it's perks. Great clubbing clothes," she said and began darkening her makeup a bit. "You look super cute." She grinned eyeing her. "Though you might want an up do. It might get a little hot and you need some volume." The girl chuckled.

Kerry sat the girl down on the bed and started to help Alex with her hair. "At least you're going to catch people's attention," Alex said, watching Kerry work in the mirror. "I'm just, well, cute, like you said. You're smokin'."

"Alex, you are smoking too," Kerry said to her seriously. "I mean those green eyes of yours can stop any guy in his tracks," she said as she twisted her hair around a bit, braiding here and there. "You're tall too, guys love tall." She chuckled. "Trust me, darlin', guys will be looking tonight," she said patting her shoulders as she finished the hair do. The sides braided back to fit into a messy bun in the back, definitely a sexy look for the redhead.  
"Maybe," Alex said, shrugging.

"No maybes. Besides, you are the perfect balance of cute and sexy," Kerry assured her. "I'm not the girl boys bring home to Mommy and Daddy. I'm the girl they call for a good time, for one time," she joked, taking a stab at her self to cheer her friend up. "You are the best of both worlds, Dorkfish."

"Guys would be lucky to have you, Kerr," Alex said. "So don't put yourself down like that."

"It's cool, Lexi," Kerry promised. "I'm happy with the way I look. The guys can shove off if they don't like it."

Alex laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, so do you want to head out now?"

"Nope!" Kerry said and went over to her bag before pulling out her makeup bag. "I'm doing your makeup." She grinned at her as she walked over. Hearing a girl like Kerry say that is a bit scary, with her dark shadowed eyes and cat eyeliner.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Alex said, putting her hands up in protest. "No makeup!"

"No buts," Kerry said approaching her. "I promise to go really simple. Plus you said you wanted to get some attention right?" She smirked and stood behind the girl.

"W-Well," Alex muttered, biting her lip.

"Come on, I'm going to make you look amazing!" Kerry asked, her lower lip jutting out. "Plllleeeassse? I never had any female friends to do this with," she guilt tripped.

_Well, who am I to take that away from her? _Alex thought. "Okay, go ahead."

Kerry cheered before turning her around and getting started with bases and blushes. "I had to get a lighter color, you know. Don't think we're the same skin tone." She teased her paler friend.

"No, I'm albino compared to you," Alex laughed.

"Everyone is in our group, honey," she said as she dug around for some black eyeliner. "Dark colors for eyeliners will really bring out the lightness in your eyes," she murmured as she gently applied it with the skilled hand, thanks to being a painter as well. "But no cateyes, that'd be a little much for you. Now silver eyeshadow should do the trick as well," she said taking out the color and brush. "Peach colored lipstick and you're set!" She laughed.

"That's it?" Alex asked. "I'll look like a clown!"

"Just turn around and look, Dorkfish," Kerry told her. "It's all about the right amount and shading." She chuckled and took her shoulders, twisting her to look into the mirror.

Alex's mouth dropped open. "Whoa," she said. Her green eyes seemed much richer now and seemed to draw anyone who looked at them in. The silver adding a slight glint to her gaze and opening them up so the full extent of her beautiful eyes could be seen. Her cheek boned were highlighted and drew attention to her flesh colored lips that shimmered, begging to be kissed.

"I know. I'm amazing." Kerry chuckled, her own darker green eyes sparkling mischievously. "You are going to drop so many jaws tonight."

"Let's hope," Alex said. She shook her head, snapping herself out of it. "Come on, let's get going!"

* * *

Alex and Kerry walked into Franco's, making their way to the large booth in the back where Alex always sat with their group of friends. Pretty much everybody was already there, drinking sodas as they waited for the pizza to come out. Alex plopped down next to Freddy, taking off her jacket from the cool September evening air, Kerry sat down next to her on the other side.

"Hey, guys," Alex greeted, leaning into Fred's arm, which instantly went around her shoulder over the back of the booth.

"Y'all weren't waitin' long were you?" Kerry asked thanking Kiley as she slid a Dr. Pepper in her direction.

"No," Fred said. "Only about ten minutes late, but who's counting, huh?"

"Sorry then." Kerry smiled, honestly feeling a bit bad for it, she was the one who insisted on doing Alex's make up. "I went over to Lexi's to get ready."

"And she guilted me into letting her do my makeup," Alex said.

Fred choked on his soda, snapping his head to Alex when he heard that. "Y-You're, uh, wearing makeup," he stated dumbly.

"Very good, Sherlock," Alex laughed.

"Lex, you look so hot!" Emily grinned at her. "Like, I'd tap that if I was a lesbian hot."

"Em!" Alex scolded, a laugh coming out at the end. "That doesn't help me any!"

"How does it not?" Emily asked. "I mean, lesbains have good taste right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a lesbian, despite how much Raphael seems to think so," Alex said, glaring down at her drink before picking it up and taking a big swig.

"Alex, take the compliment," Kerry scoffed. "You look smokin'. My best work yet." she chuckled.

"No, you look beautiful, Lexa," Fred told her, kissing her forehead.

"You really think so?" Alex asked, fiddling with her fingers since she didn't have her hair to push back out of her face like she normally did.

"You looked gorgeous." Kiley assured her, leaning back against Erik.

"Well, thank you Kerry," Alex said, nudging her with her elbow.

Kerry blushed a bit, not used to public praise. "U-Uh yeah, no problem Lexi. Like I said, I never got to do things like that so it was fun. Besides, you have a lot of natural beauty to work with."

Alex cleared her throat. "So, come on! Let's go dance!" She practically pushed Kerry out of the booth before she grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor.

"Wait what?! Alex no!" Kerry asked as their friends chuckled and some of them followed. "I wasn't kidding when I said someone will end up hurt!"

"Oh hush!" Alex told her, grabbing her hands and forcing her to dance. "Just relax! We'll all make fools of ourselves together."

"Come on, Kerry," Emily assured. "Maybe you can show us a square dance!"

"I don't know how to square dance," she groaned. "I told you that!"

Kiley laughed. "Then just dance. Come on!" she said putting the girl's hands in the air. "Just twist okay. It's simple!" Kiley said as she herself began dancing. Slowly Kerry seemed to relax, a smile on her lips as she seemed to adapt. She laughed as she twisted with Alex.

"Wow, they really are club dancing," a familiar voice said a little ways away. "It's even hotter than I thought it would be."

Alex spun around, eyes landing on four familiar figures that she had seen about an hour and a half ago. Her face went extremely red, her mouth falling open in shock and in embarrassment. "M-Mikey? Guys? W-What are you doing here?"

Mikey stood just a little ways away, a grin on his boyish face as he eyed her and her friend. He was dressed for dancing, gray cargo shorts with an orange polo and sneakers. "You look awesome, Alex!" he cheered making his way over to her, followed by his four brothers.

Leo smiled lifting his hand in greeting, approaching in his white jeans and dark blue button up, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Don looked uncomfortable in his jeans, purple t-shirt, and black unbuttoned vest. Finally Raph walked up, looking around rather appreciatively at the dance floor. He was dressed rather attractively in a dark red tank top with a black leather jacket thrown over it, jeans, and combat boots.

"Mikey? The guy your tutoring?" Kerry asked, having realized her friend wasn't dancing anymore.

"Uh, yeah," Alex said. "Boys, this is Kerry, Emily and Kiley, Kiley's boyfriend Erik. Phoebe and her boyfriend Rudy and Freddy. Guys, this is Mikey and his brothers Leo, Don and _Ralph_."

"It's Raph," he barked at her, eyes narrowing once he finally saw her.

"Hello everyone," Leo smiled a bit at them, polite as always, shaking their heads. Kerry stood there, wide eyed as she looked at them, shaking hands when told.

These were the guys? She blinked a bit, wow she was not kidding, they were cute.

Fred walked up behind Alex, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him and a couple inches away from the brothers. Kerry had to step away as he moved in and she rolled her eyes a bit with a scoff.

"Hi! You must be Fred! Oh and you're Kerry!" Mikey said looking between Alex's two best friends. "We've heard so much about you!"

"So you're Alex's girlfriend?" Raph asked the dark haired girl. Kerry narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm her best friend, yes," she said putting a hand on her hip and poking his chest with her finger. "You know, you really should watch that mouth of yours, you could end up with a fat lip," she said, green eyes going dangerous.

"Oh, woah hey!" Don said trying to get between them. "S-Sorry about my brother," he said before looking at the girl. "H-H-He doesn't know how to t-ta-talk to...Hi," he murmured finally his eyes having gone blank for a moment.

Alex smirked. _Awww, he likes her! A geek likes Kerry! _

Kerry blinked up at the boy who stepped into her line of sight. "O-Oh," she said stepping back. "Howdy-" she said before blushing. "I mean hi! Hi, I'm Kerry," she said sticking her hand out.

"I-I-I know," he said, a slight laugh coming out as he rubbed the back of his neck. Kerry blushed darker and withdrew her hand.

"R-Right, Crap uh. Hi Don," she said stepping away a bit as Emily came up behind her.

"Sorry, she's from the south," Emily teased a bit causing Kerry to go blank faced again.

"She can be a ditz at times," Fred smirked a bit pulling Alex even closer.

"Freddy!" Alex scolded, swatting him on the arm. "Remember, nice?" she whispered, begging him to behave.

"I was just teasing. It's all in good fun," he said putting his hands up in defense.

Mikey smiled a bit and shook Kerry's hand enthusiastically. "Nice to finally meet you!" He said and looked around at everyone. "To meet you all!"

"My gosh Alex," Emily whispered to Alex. "He is so cute! The face of an angel! They are all so gorgeous!"

"Why don't you go talk to Mikey," she suggested. "I'm sure he'd like to get to know you."

Emily smiled and nodded, moving around to go talk to the boy. Leo approached next.

"Sorry about this. Mikey really wanted to come," he said sheepishly.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alex said, patting him on the arm. "It's good to see you guys out and about. And I did say come by any time, right?"

"You sure it isn't a problem?" Don asked her, peeking at Kerry as she talked with Kiley. "We did just crash your party."

"Of course I'm positive," Alex said. She moved in next to him, giving him a side hug. "And go talk to her. I know you've got your eyes on her and I know for a fact she likes smart guys."

Don gapped at her. "I-I m-m-me and h-her? A girl like that w-w-with me?" Don gaped. "N-Nice try. But," he murmured glancing at her again. "I would like to get to know her...as friends, of course! S-Since you know, she's your friend and you're our friend and and...I'll shut up now," he murmured.

Fred stood there, glaring as Alex left him to hug on this other guy who she just met yesterday. He was relieved to hear her trying to hook him up with Kerry though. Not only did it mean she didn't have feelings for him, it meant it could get Kerry off his back. He turned his glare to the other guys, having eliminated Don as a threat.

"So Ralph," Fred said narrowing his eyes at the redhead who had actually been listening to the music.

"It's Raph," he grumbled again, narrowing his eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he spat.

Fred's chest automatically puffed up, reaching out to pull Alex back to him.

"Fred, Alex's best friend," he said slowly as if Raph as stupid.

Alex gulped, rubbing the back of her neck due to the awkward tension. "S-So, what do you think? The place, I mean."

"It's alright." Raph scoffed. "When I heard you came here, I thought it'd be lame."

"Watch it, man," Fred told him, moving Alex behind him slightly.

"Who do you think you are? Her body guard?" Raph asked. "Last time I checked, the Butch talked enough shit to take care of herself."

"_What_ did you call her?"

"Fred, come on," Alex said, moving in front of him, placing a hand on his chest to try and get him to back down. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, I call him Ralph, for Pete's sake."

Kerry looked up from her conversation hearing the yelling. She made eye contact with Alex, a worried look on her face.

"This guy is standing here insulting you and you're okay with it?!"

"You heard the Butch," Raph said crossing his strong arms over his chest. "No big deal."

Alex turned, stepping up to Raph and glared. "That's between me and you. You have no right picking a fight with my best friend. I'm the one that invited you guys. Try to be a tad bit respectful."

"If you didn't notice. He was the one picking the fight." Raph gritted his teeth. Leo turned around from the dance he was having with a girl and grabbed his arm.

"Chill Raph," He hissed at him, not wanting a scene. Raph growled and shrugged him off.

"Yeah, chill Ralph," Alex said, a smirk playing on her face at the fact that his brother was on her side. She turned away and grabbed Fred's hand, pulling him away. "Come on, let's dance!"

Fred smirked at the two brothers before following her to join more of their group on the floor. Mikey was actually really good at dancing, just like he said he was, causing Emily to squeal even more over him. Kerry and Don were further of, dancing at a rather awkward space since neither one exactly felt confident, Kerry after Emily had bashed her unintentionally and Don just because...he was Don.

"Hey, Lex?" Phoebe asked, moving in closer so the redhead could hear her better.

"What's up?" Alex asked the girl curiously.

"The redhead is checking you out," she said.

Alex didn't believe that whatsoever. She turned her head, looking for the redheaded Hamato brother, finding him sitting at a table by the drink counter all by himself, just watching his brothers and the group of people they had met that night. His eyes, however, had been primarily focused on Alex's dancing form.

The girl's face went as red as her hair. She turned quickly, preventing him from seeing the blush and the fact that she had caught him staring at her. "W-why is he staring?" she stammered out.

"Because you look amazing," Phoebe joked a bit.

"But we don't like each other!" Alex said. "He doesn't think I'm _cute_! He thinks I'm a _Butch_!"

"You don't have to like each other to think the other person's cute. Physical attraction and all."

"B-But, like I said, he's basically told me he doesn't even like the way I look!" Alex said, crossing her arms over her chest. "A-And really hot bad boys like him don't like girls like me. Not that I would want him to, the _hothead_."

"Uh, aren't you the one pairing Don the nerd, and Kerry the bad girl together?" Phoebe asked with a raised eyebrow. "And you said hot by the way," she winked.

"Yeah, but Kerry's bringing out a more confident side of Don, while he calms her," Alex said. "They compliment each other. Raph and I would kill each other if we were left alone in two minutes."

"Psh, they just met Alex," she chuckled. "And love, you two just meet too, maybe you'll help each other too."

"Oh yeah? How? By putting each other out of our missories?"

"Or maybe giving him someone to vent to and you someone you don't have to pretend around," a voice said and Alex turned to see Kerry, who had approached when Don went to get a drink.

"Pretend? What am I pretending to do?" Alex asked.

"I know you're not a strong as you make your self out to be," Kerry murmured to her in her ear.

Alex gulped, subconsciously pushing a couple strands of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her up do from dancing. "B-But like I said, no matter how attractive I may more may not, which I don't, find him, he doesn't think I'm good looking!"

"Some guys aren't honest will their feelings," Phoebe said with a serious nod. "And it looks like you aren't either."

"I-I'm gonna go get my drink," Alex said, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked away.

Alex found out upon returning to the table that she had run out of her drink. She snuck away to head over to where the drink counter was to get a refill and spotted Raph leaning against the counter, having just been watching the group. Alex got another drink and turned to head back to the group, but stopped, glancing at the male redhead.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, walking over to the guy. "Hey," she said, leaning against the counter next to him, taking a sip of her soda. "You know, you don't have to stay over here by yourself. You're more than welcome to come join us."

"I'm fine where I am." Raph grumbled taking a drink. "I don't need you or your stupid friends."

Alex glanced down at her glass. "They're not stupid, Raph," she said, using his real name. "And I don't appreciate you saying that are. You don't hear me insulting your brothers, do you?"

"Yeah, well I don't appreciate you stringing my brothers along."he snipped at her.

"Stringing them along?" she asked, completely confused.

"They all think you're their friend. Mikey freaking adores you, Leo thinks your cool, and now you seem to be hooking Don up with your dumb hick friend," he listed. "But I know that Mikey is just a job for you and you'll leave as soon as it's done. Leaving my brothers hurt. And I don't like it when someone hurts my brothers."

"You know what?" Alex asked, turning to face him, a deep frown on her face from actually getting hurt by his words. "I really like your brothers. And ask anybody, I wouldn't do that to people I like." Alex placed her barely touched drink on the counter before turning to Raph one last time. "I came over here to be nice. I want you to have a good time to, but whatever, Raph. Be that way. I'm gonna go home."

Alex turned away and walked over to the booth where her jacket was. She pulled it on and snuck away without anybody but Raph noticing.


	5. Drama

Chapter 5

Drama

* * *

Alex stalked through the night on her way back home from Franco's, arms wrapped tightly around her, trying to keep herself warm. The shirt Kerry let her borrow was thin and her black jacket wasn't much better. She knew she should have brought a thicker jacket with her. She had lived in New York City her whole life. She knew how it could get at night in September.

Alex felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that it was just Kerry texting her. She sighed, opening the text, knowing very well she was about to get scolded for leaving without anybody to walk her home.

**Heterosextual Partner: Are you insane?! Where are you?!**

**Alex: I'm going home.**

**Heterosextual Partner: Stay where you are. I'm coming right now.**

**Alex: No, you Fruitcake. Stay and hang with Don. I'm fine. I can walk home by myself. **

**Heterosextual Partner: I don't like this Alex! You know that!**

**Alex: And I don't care. I'm almost home anyway.**

That last part had been a lie. She had a good thirty minute walk ahead of her, but Alex liked to walk, almost as much as she liked to run or do ninjutsu at her family dojo. Plus, she needed some time to clear her head after Raph went off on her like that.

**Homosexual Partner: At least call me when you get home. I don't want to have anything happen to you. **_**Please. **_

**Alex: I promise. Have fun with Donatello for me. **

**Homosexual Life Partner: Very funny.**

Alex glanced up from her phone, feeling her stomach drop. She had that feeling every once in a while. It was her warning system. It could have been anything from tripping over a crack to a serial killer stalking her, but as she looked around, she didn't see anything, so she went back to her text.

**Alex: I'm serious. Talk to him. Get to know him. He likes you and you like him. **

**Homosexual Partner: Life isn't that simple or happy Alex!**

**Alex: Not always, but it can be better if you're just willing to give some people a chance.**

Alex's ear almost twitched, thinking she heard someone. She looked up again, still trying to figure out why she was on edge. She looked around still not seeing against out of the ordinary. She had to have been freaking herself out, right?

**Homosexual Partner: Trust me. It's not going to work. We're fine just as friends. **

**Alex: Yeah, you're so into him.**

**Homosexual Partner: .**

**Alex: No chance i**

Alex's stomach dropped a great bit, causing her to freeze in her spot. A very large hand shot out of the dark alley next to her, covering her mouth while the other secured itself around her waist, pulling her into the alley, causing her to drop her phone on the ground, her finger accidentally hitting the send butted.

Alex screamed out, but the hand was so large that it completely covered her mouth and her nose, cutting off her air supply. She squirmed, trying to move her arms up, but the man was too strong in his grip. He had to be a giant, Alex found, to be able to do both of those at the same time.

Alex managed to bring her legs up though, before swinging it backwards and kicked the guy hard in the groin. He groaned, dropping the girl and doubling over. Alex fell to her knees, tearing the knees of her jeans as well as the skin there as she scurried across the alley to get to her feet. She spun around, looking directly at her attacker, who stood at almost seven feet tall.

There was only one person she knew who was that big.

"Hun?" she asked, voice breaking from having screamed at the top of her oxygen deprived lungs moments before.

Hun Hanson was a guy that went to school with her. He was known for being the worst guy in school. He was a bully, a drug dealer, a thief, and, worst of all, a _Purple Dragon._ The blond haired, black eyed giant also happened to take martial arts classes at the Foot Institute, a rival dojo of Alex's family's place.

"You bitch!" the teenager growled, trying to sit up through the pain in his groin.

"What the hell?" she asked, backing up against the brick wall, which wasn't a smart move.

Hun pushed up off the ground and lunged at the sixteen year old. Alex went to move, but the dumpster beside her blocked her way, causing her to get hit in the face with a powerful, large punch. She felt dizzy, almost losing consciousness from the single blow, but managed to drop down and slide between his knees.

The blond reached down, grabbing her arm as she slid feet first under him, pulling her up off of the ground. Alex cried out, fearing he was going to break her arm with just one squeeze. If not that, he was going to leave a large hand print wrapped around her thin, yet strong arm. He used his other hand to punch her in the stomach, causing her to scream again. There was a crack and Alex felt a huge pain shoot through her midsection, informing her that some of her ribs cracked.

"Master will be please," Hun stated, leaving Alex completely clueless with that statement.

Alex caught her breath, though teas were still running down her face from the still present pain. "Nope," she said, lashing out with her other hand, hitting him on the side of the neck, causing him to lose consciousness instantly.

_Oh, I love pressure points,_ Alex though, landing on her feet.

Alex shook her head, an angry glare on her face. She quickly moved, kicking Hun in the ribs before she bolted out of the alley, grabbing her phone off the ground before pushing her legs as fast as she could down the street until she finally made it to her apartment building. She huffed, entering the lobby and then the stairwell before finally dropping to her knees, trying to breathe and calm herself.

Once she wasn't hyperventilating, she glanced down at her phone to see all of the texts she had gotten from Kerry due to the message she had accidentally sent when she had been dropped.

**Homosexual Partner: What?**

**Homosexual Partner: Alex? Lexi?**

**Homosexual Partner: This isn't funny! Answer me woman!**

**Homosexual Partner: On my way**

_Great, just great_, Alex thought, letting her head fall back into the brick wall behind her, causing her to wince and place a hand there. _Now I'm going to have to deal with Hun wherever I go and Kerry! And I have to find makeup to cover up my bruises!_

**Alex: No, i'm fi,mes. justs dropoed my pjhne sdn sdfinne mu ;mess,**

Alex sighed angrily at herself, looking down at her shaking hands. She shook them out a minute, trying to calm herself down, even rubbing them on her pants to try and get the shaking to stop before she retyped that text.

**Alex: No, I'm fine. I just dropped my phone and skinned my knees.**

**Homosexual Partner: You're not shitting me right?**

**Alex: I'm fine, Fruitcake. I'm in my apartment building. Perfectly safe.**

**Homosexual Partner:...okay. I'll hear from you when you get home. The guys offered to walk me, we live in the same direction.**

Alex knew very well that if she tried to talk to anybody they would know that something was wrong. She had managed to get her hands to stop shaking, but she was a mess. Her voice would not have been able to stay steady if she even tried to talk to anybody. There was no way she was going to be able to talk to Kerry without tipping her off that she was lying.

**Alex: Can't talk. Phone's about to die. Talk to you tomorrow. **

Alex smirked. _There, that'll work_, she thought. _That's believable enough. _

**Homosexual Partner: ...fine...**

**Alex: Thank the guys for me for walking you home.**

Alex sighed in relief. She slowly pushed herself off the ground, groaning as she did so due to her ribs. She slowly made her way up the stairs and to her apartment. She fumbled with her keys before finally managing to open the door and slip into her bedroom without any attention. She was thankful that her brothers worked the Friday classes at the dojo and would have already been in bed, like her parents.

Alex dropped her things on her dresser, looking at herself in the mirror. She had a large bruise on her face where Hun had put his hand. She signed, knowing she'd have to take some of her mother's makeup to cover it up. It was going to be such a pain trying to put it on without hurting herself.

Alex slowly and very painfully pulled the green top off, as well as her jeans, showing off her skinned knees, handprinted arm, bruised waist and rib cage. She was going to have to wear long sleeved skirts for at least two weeks until the one on her arm went away, as well as change in the bathroom stall for gym class instead of in front of her gym locker like she normally did.

_Kerry will know something's up when I do that,_ Alex thought, turning to crawl into her bed without getting into her pajamas. _Uh, I don't want to deal with this now. I'll figure it out tomorrow. _

* * *

Alex managed to get her mom's concealer the next morning to cover up her bruises. Her brothers were observant enough to notice (though if her oldest brother Elliot had been home he would have noticed right away, she had never been more glad that he was studying in Japan for the next couple of weeks), and her parents were away at a martial arts demonstration for the weekend, so she didn't have to worry about them.

What the redhead really had to worry about was going to school on Monday to face Kerry and Freddy, who would be able to see something was wrong with her right away, whether it was through the makeup or from how stiffly she was moving due to her ribs. She was not looking forward to school. Not. One. Bit.

Alex got to school a little early and went straight to her locker, slightly hiding her face in it as she dumped and grabbed various items that she did and didn't need when Kerry arrived, going to her locker right across from Alex's, talking to her as she to dropped and grabbed things for classes.

"Mikey is adorable." Kerry was saying. "He like a little puppy. Leo was really cool too, offering his jacket and stuff. Raph was a jerk though, he kept calling me a freaking hick!" She grumbled before peeking at Alex. "Lexi? Hey, Dorkfish you listening?"

"Uh, yeah," Alex said, feeling pain in her jaw as she spoke, still turned to her locker to hide her "Painted" face. "Sorry. What about Don?"

"D-Donnie?" Kerry asked. "He was a...a real gentleman. He spoke softly and politely, even walked on the side of the sidewalk closest to the road. I don't see many New York guys do that."

"Nah, Don's a sweety," Alex said. "He's a keeper. So take that little piece of advice. Keep him."

"I'm sure me and _all_ the boys will keep in touch...even Raph's not too bad," Kerry said in thought.

"Not too bad?" Alex asked with a scoff. "Right. That's a good one."

"I'm serious, even though he was insulting me, I noticed that he, well, he wasn't out right mean," Kerry said. "I-I can't explain it okay. I just know he isn't being as bad a most people," she said quickly. "He was also always on the look out, watching our backs."

"I'll believe he looked out while on their way home, because his brothers were there, but Raph's an ass," Alex said.

"I don't know, I think me and him are a lot a like." Kerry shrugged.

"You two are nothing alike," Alex shot back, turning to look at Kerry, moving too quickly. She felt the pain rush through her ribs, but ignored it as she went on. "Raph's a total ass. I tried to be nice to him that night and he totally went off on me with no reason. At least you are nice to people when they're nice to you!"

Kerry didn't say anything at first, just staring at her, her face completely blank, like it was when someone made a snide comment about her."Bathroom," Kerry said harshly, grabbing her arm and pulling.

Alex winced at Kerry's hand on the bruise on her arm where Hun had picked her up. When they were in the bathroom and Kerry let go, she rubbed it gently through her long sleeved black shirt. "What is it, Kerry?" Alex asked, playing dumb. "I'm too tired to deal with this kind of drama right now."

"What the fuck happened, O'Neil? You're hurt!" Kerry hissed as she tossed her bag on the ground, and began digging through it.

"I'm fine," Alex denied.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Kerry snapped at her as she pulled out a first aid kit, a miniature one, from her back pack. "Take off the sweater." She said jerking her chin.

"No," Alex said with a sign, giving in. "And it's not what you think. I, uh, already took care of it. Honestly, Kerry. I already fixed myself up."

"I've had busted ribs before, and you can not wrap them your self," Kerry grumbled she said and jerked the sleeve of her shirt up, showing the handprint on her arm. Kerry's face darkened more. "Who?"

"Don't worry about it, Kerry," Alex said. "I showed the guy who's boss. He won't mess with me again." Or so she hoped. Hun was nuts.

"Unless he's in jail or in the ground, I doubt that." Kerry scoffed and crossed her arms, kit still in her hand. "Now take off the shirt or I'll do it for you."

Alex sighed and walked to the door, locking it. She then slowly walked back to Kerry and painfully pulled off her top, exposing the still extremely deep colored bruises littering her mid section.

"This is nothing?" Kerry asked, voice calmer now that she had complied. She set the kit down and opened it. It was packed with supplies ranging from simple bandages and wraps to razor blades and sutures. She got out her biggest wrap and walked over.

"I've gotten worse from competitions," Alex stated.

"Yeah, but those are regulated fights," Kerry said having been to a few her self. "This was an attack. It was vicious and intended to do harm, not just a basic spar," she said and began prodding her ribs gently, trying to see if there was any cracking.

"Obviously you've never been to, ow, a competition with the Foot Institute," Alex said. "This is how you come out after every spar."

"Then they need to be shut down," Kerry growled a bit as she started wrapping. "Luckily from what I tell it's just bruising of your ribs. It will heal in 3 to 5 days."

"You don't think we've tried that?" Alex asked, too tired to get too worked up about it all right then. "And like I said, I already knew that. I've fixed myself and my brothers up enough to know."

"Well we need to try something else," Kerry murmured. "And by _we_, I mean _us_. They did this to you, I'm not going to let them get away with it," she said as she finished tying off the bandage. "I'm in."

"Kerry, I'm not doing anything about this right now," Alex said. "Not until I'm healed up."

"I know that," Kerry scoffed. "I'm not stupid." She went to clean up her kit.

"I never said you were," Alex said. "And can we keep this between the two of us? I don't want the others freaking out about it."

Kerry breathed through her nose, regaining her composure as she nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay. But only cause you asked," she said as she put her extensive emergency kit away.

"Can we get out of here now?" Alex asked, putting her shirt back on.

"Yeah," Kerry said picking up her backpack. "...I'm pissed at you," she stated suddenly, turning her head to hide the tears building up in her frustration.

"I know," Alex said, not really caring. This was why she didn't want anybody to know. She didn't want them to worry about her. She knew how to take care of herself. She didn't need them to do it. They already had enough stress on them from school work and home life, especially Kerry.

"Good," Kerry said. "We'll talk later," she said and unlocked the door and held it open for her.

"Thanks," she said, walking out, only to be knocked to the ground, hissing from the pain of hitting the doorframe with her back. "Ow," she moaned.

"Lexa?" Fred asked, bending down next to Alex looking at her in concern. Kerry bit back a swear as she stepped out too, easing behind Alex, helping her up and steadying her inconspicuously.

"Morning, Freddy," Alex greeted, a small, pained smiled on her face.

"Morning," he said looking at her, sensing something was off from the way she was standing with Kerry so close. "What's up?"

Alex shook her head slightly. "Nothing," she said, still trying to smile. Fred narrowed his eyes further.

"Something's up," he said, sure of himself as his eyes drifted down her form. "Is something hurting?"

"Listen we've got to get to class," Kerry said, making a move to cover for Alex. She might have been pissed, but Alex asked her to do this for her.

"Bullshit," Fred said, stepping in their way. "Classes don't start for another fifteen minutes."

"I have to talk to my teacher and Alex offered to come with me," Kerry said her poker face in place.

Fred glared at the older girl, still firmly in their way. He shook his head, looking at Alex once more, narrowing his eyes trying to figure out what was wrong with her smile. He moved one of his hands to her cheek, gently placing it where the bruise was, causing her to flinch. "Lexa, what's wrong? Tell me," he practically begged.

Alex glanced down to her feet, not wanting to lie but not wanting him to know the truth either. "It's nothing," she said, voice small.

Fred looked at his hand then pressed a little harder with his thumb, rubbing away some of the make up. He froze, staring at the spot on her cheek before looking at her face. "Lexa, what is this?" he asked lowly.

"I-I got jumped," she said. "Friday night. It's nothing. I took care of it. I swear."

"You got jumped?! And didn't say anything?" Fred asked her grabbing her arms. "What the hell, Lexa!? What were you thinking!?"

"Ow, Freddy, let go," she said, eyes showing the pain his grip was causing on her arm. Kerry grabbed Fred's wrist and pulled it off of her.

"Fred, let her go," Kerry said softly. Fred turned his anger to her, shoving her back so she hit the lockers.

"You knew, didn't you?!" he snapped. "And you weren't going to say anything? What the hell?!" He said getting in her face. Kerry stared up at him, just taking it in silence with her poker face.

"_Richard Miles Frederickson!_" Alex yelled, her face bright red from anger.

"What?" he asked, looking at her.

"She just found out this morning too," Alex told him.

"It doesn't matter! She was covering it up," Fred said pointing at the older girl. She hadn't moved from her pinned spot yet.

"Because I asked her to!" Alex answered.

"She has no right," Fred said darkly. "I'm your best friend. We're supposed to take care of eachother."

"And so is she!" Alex yelled back. "And I didn't tell her either, _okay_? I didn't tell _anybody_! And this is _exactly _why I didn't!"

Fred stood there in silence for a bit. It had never really been said out loud that Kerry was also Alex's best friend. It was only until now that that line had been crossed and his position was verbally contested. "What gives you the right to do that? We care about you, that's why we would want to know."

"And that's why I didn't," Alex said, the hot tears running down her cheeks. "You guys have enough to worry about as it is." She wrapped her arms around her chest, being careful not to move too quickly or to hold herself to tightly. "You don't need any of this to go along with that."

"That's selfish," Kerry said quietly but it shut the other two up. "Don't you think we want to worry about you? We don't mind the burden if it makes you better. We like seeing you happy, Lexi. It makes us happy. When you hide things like that from us, it only makes it worse."

"And when you seem me like this?" Alex asked rhetorically. "I want you guys to be happy to. And like I said, I took care of it all. You didn't need to worry about it. I'm fine. I'm happy. There' no need for any of this."

"I don't know about Fred," Kerry said. "But I like knowing when something is wrong so I can do the best of my ability to fix it," Kerry said and suddenly hit the locker. "We're going to worry anyway! How would you feel if we were hiding something like this, huh?"

"For once I agree with you, Texas," Fred said crossing his arms. "We are going to worry no matter what. But if you come to us it will help us worry less about things we think you're hiding. Honesty helps, Lexa."

Alex stared down at the ground and didn't look back up until Fred gently placed his hand under her chin, directing her head up to him. "Promise me this, Lexa," he said, moving in closer to her. "I-I can't stand to see you like this, and I can't take it when you don't tell me the truth. It hurts me more. So, please don't do that to me, Lexa. Promise you won't?"

The redhead's face moved to rest against Fred's strong chest, her hands gripping the front of his shirt as he gently wrapped his arms around her, making sure not to hurt her, having not known where her injuries were. He pulled her closer when she nodded her head gently, silently telling him what he wanted to hear.

Fred kissed the top of her head, glancing at Kerry with a troubled look. "You're going to be the death of me, Lexa."

"I'm sorry," she said, hiding further into his chest. "I love you, Freddy. I'm so sorry."

Kerry looked back at him, her poker face in place as she crossed her arms, looking away as if giving them privacy. Her green eyes dark and mysterious. It was then he realized, how much did they really know about Kerry? But that wasn't his main focus right then. No, Alex was forever going to be his priority.

And that girl was really going to be the death of him, he swore.


	6. Escort

Chapter 6  
Escort

* * *

It had taken a whole lot of convincing on Alex part to have Fred and Kerry let Alex walked to the Hamato's on her own after stopping home to grab a basketball. Plus, Kerry had started taking some shifts at April's, though it wasn't exactly Alex's shifts, and Fred had been doing the same at the dojo. They both had to get to work, providing Alex with reason to walk by herself.

Alex stood at the Hamato's dragon door for the third time, waiting for an answer once more, basketball tucked under her arm at her hip, resting on the bruise, but she ignored the pain, having gotten a little more used to it as the weekend and the day went on.

The door fling open and a body collided with Alex, causing her to gasp at the pain and drop the basketball. She almost slipped off the steps and fell down the stairs, but the blond Michelangelo had too strong of a grip on her to allow that to happen.

"_Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow_!" she repeated until Mikey pulled back, looking at Alex scared that he had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry!" he said softly looking at her fearfully. "Did I hug too hard?" he asked worriedly. "I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"Honey, you're okay," Alex insisted. "It's okay. But yeah, we'll go with that," Alex said, not wanting to go into the details of why she was in pain. She had already done far too much of that already that day.

"Uh, okay," Mikey said confused before spotting the basketball. "What's that for?" he asked.

Alex smiled, picking the basketball off the ground and tossing it to Mikey. "Hands on learning," she said. "You're going to memorize the periodic table of elements."

"By playing basketball?" Mikey asked, eyebrow raised.

"You'll see," Alex said. "You ready to head out to the park?"

"Yeah," he said. "Just let me tell Master Splinter and grab my shoes. Should I ask the guys if they want to come?"

Alex shrugged carefully. "Sure," she said. "As long as they don't distract you from working."

"Sweet!"

* * *

Alex pushed herself off of the ground with a groan, wiping her hands on her pants trying to get some of the chalk off of them. She tossed the chalk over to the grass before turning to look at Mikey's confused blue eyes.

"Okay, so the point of the game is to move from each each element in order. You say the name of the element from the actual name of the element from the atomic symbol you're standing on and then you shoot. If you get the name wrong, you go back to the beginning. If you miss the basket, you go back to the beginning." Alex dribbled a couple times before passing the ball to the blonde. "Sound easy enough?"

"Uh, we have different definitions of easy," Mikey stated, dribbling the ball sadly.

"Hey, you'll do fine," Alex said. "It's just a game, Mikey. Not a test. It's just a way to help you remember the elements."

"Yeah, but there's so many of them," he said.

"Okay, why don't we start off with the gases first," Alex said. "And then when you get those done, you can go to the non-metals. If you get any wrong once you get there, just go back to the start of the non-metals. We don't have to go all the way back to the beginning."

"Breaking it up is probably the best," Don said from his spot under the tree, his face in his book still.

"Yeah, I know I wouldn't be able to do them all at once," Alex said.

"But it's a very clever idea," Leo said, eyes closed as he meditated next to Donatello under the tree.

"Thanks, Leo," Alex said, smiling softly at the black haired teen.

"Who would have thought Butch would have a good idea," Raph said from the other side of the court, shooting hoops by himself.

Alex ignored that, just as she had ignored everything he has said on their way to the part. She was still upset with him from Friday and thought it best to just ignore him completely. She turned to Mikey and waved him on, urging him to begin the game. She watched and listened carefully to the names he said as she walked over to the grass and carefully sat down between Leo and Don.

Don smiled and scooted over for her as she sat down. "This is perfect for Mikey. I never thought of using his hyperactivity to his advantage."

"Yeah, I actually thought of it when I was in the shower," Alex said.

The boys four boys froze for a brief second, as if someone had hit pause. Don in turning his page, Mikey in the middle of dribbling, Raph mid-shot, and she didn't even think Leo was breathing. She shook her head, giggling slightly at their reaction. She forgot they weren't used to things like that. Most of her guy friends at school were completely comfortable with a statement like that.

"O-O-Oh, is t-t-that so?" Don said clearing his throat, pretending they didn't all just freeze.

Alex laughed harder, tipping backwards on the grass slightly. When she landed on her back she gasped, shooting up straight, holding her mid section. She had to hold back another gasp from the pain of her quick movement as well.

"A-Alex, are you okay?" Don asked dropping his book and shifting to look over her and Leo placed a hand on her shoulder gently. Mikey stopped and looked over.

"Oh, yeah," she said, waving it off. "Just sleep on my back funny last night, is all."

"You sure? You are moving a little too stiffly for that. And you're holding your ribs," Leo said softly as he sat her up gently, hands careful with her.

"She's wearing makeup," Raph stated simply from across the court, not looking over as he shot and swooshed a three pointer.

"W-What?" Mikey asked and came over. He peered at her face and nodded. "You're right! But how did you know Raphie?"

"Yeah, Raphie?" Alex asked, liking the nickname Mikey had used. "How do you know?"

"Cause your face isn't as ugly as usual!" Raph snapped as he heard the nickname.

Alex sighed and shook her head, laying back on the grass, moving her New York Rangers cap over her face to block out the sun even more, even though they were in the shade. "Keep going, Mikey," Alex instructed. "You've only made it through seven elements."

"O-Oh," Mikey said and picked up his ball again. "Okay Alex," he said but was obviously still worried.

"_Why_ are you wearing make-up?" Leo asked her.

"Because I got jumped and they tried to suffocate me. I'm covering up the bruise," she said, making it sound sarcastic when it was really the complete truth.

"What!?" Don yelled, turning to the girl.

"Sarcasm, Don," Alex said. "It's nothing special. Acne. It's just acne. Cover Up, you know?"

"That was an awfully specific sarcastic comment," Raph spoke up suddenly his ball resting in his hands, forgotten.

In a quick movement, Alex's hat was pulled off of her face and Raph was next to her. He licked his finger before rubbing it on her face, taking off the makeup.

"Dude! _Ew_!" she squealed, moving away from him, trying to cover her face with her hand. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Who did it, huh?" Raph asked in a deadly tone. "I know it wasn't the hick, she was with us. Or that Fred guy, he went home much later than you. So who did it?!" he asked sharply.

Alex glanced up into his green eyes hesitantly, surprised by his concerned behavior. _Maybe Kerry's right,_ she thought. _Maybe he isn't that bad_. She shook her head, getting that thought out of her head. "It's nothing," she said. "I took care of it."

"Yeah but did you take care of it good enough?" Raph snapped and sat her up. "What else? What other injuries?"

"Raph, careful with her!" Don said to him pulling his hands away.

"Alex, why didn't you say anything?" Leo asked as Mikey rushed over.

"Angel Cakes?" Mikey asked worriedly.

"Angel Cakes?" she asked, trying to change the subject. Mikey opened his mouth to answer with a sweet smile but Raph wasn't letting it go.

"Come on, Butch, it's not your dad, was it?" he asked awkwardly. But of course it did look a bit bad for her showing up with bruises and hiding them.

"No!" she yelled angrily.

"I was just asking!" Raph yelled back. "What am I supposed to think, huh? You hiding bruises like that!? Sorry for being nice!" he snapped and tossed the ball at her before getting up to for a run.

"Raphael!" Leo yelled after him.

Alex caught the ball easily, despite her injuries. She was hurt, but that didn't mean she still didn't have fast reflexes. She shook her head, looking off to the side when she finally admitted, "I really did get jumped."

Raph stopped and looked back at her.

Don touched her shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything, I mean, That's gotta hurt, right?"

Alex shrugged. "I've had worse," she said. "Scrapes and bruised ribs aren't anything new."

"Did you at least get them checked?" Mikey asked her.

"Yeah," Alex said. "I'm fine. Honestly guy."

"Whatever," Raph scoffed and started free throws.

"If," Don started to say, still worried, "if you're sure, Alex."

"If it makes you feel better, I knocked the guy out," she put out there.

Mikey couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Really?"

Alex laughed and pointed to where she had hit Hun on the neck. "Pressure points, honey. Pressure points."

"How do you know about pressure points?" Leo asked curiously.

Alex shrugged, not willing to talk about her family dojo. "A girl's gotta know how to defend herself. Even against a seven foot tall guy."

"Seven foot?" Raph asked, face falling as he turned to the girl. He stalked over and knelt down beside her.

"I only know one guy that big," Leo said glaring at the ground.

"And he's not a good guy," Don said putting his book away.

"We've had to go against him at a couple martial arts competitions," Mikey said. "And I didn't make out that well." He looked away, rubbing his arm absentmindedly.

"What the hell did Hun want?" Raph asked. "He _always _has some kind of motive."

"Wait, _you guys _know Hun?" Alex asked.

"We just covered that," Raph stated. "How the hell do _you _know him? I thought you were randomly jumped!"

"I never said random," Alex said, shaking her head. "Hun Hanson goes to my school."

"But what did he want?" Leo asked seriously.

"I don't know! He didn't say, but what does a guy like him always want? Money, drugs, power, something like that," Alex answered semi-honestly. She really _didn't _know what Hun wanted. Whatever it was would have pleased his master though. "He's a known bully around our school and he doesn't hide the fact that he's a Purple Dragon."

"You really took out Hun?" Mikey asked, sitting down with his legs crossed under him. "B-But you're so tiny!"

"You're changing the subject again, Mikey," Don pointed out as if used to doing that.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Why did he attack you?" Raph pressed not believing her.

"I. Don't. Know," she repeated slowly. She looked straight into his eyes, being completely honest. "It came out of nowhere. I don't know what he was up to."

"Don't walk home alone anymore," Raph ordered her, eyes narrowing. "Hun isn't one to give up."

"I hate to say it," Don said. "But Raph's right. You got lucky, Alex," he said worried for his first female friend.

Alex glanced down at Raph's hands, not wanting to look at any of them in the eyes. _They're right, _she thought. _I may be able to take care of myself, more than they know. But Hun is, well, Hun. He doesn't give up._

"One or more of us will walk you home," Leo said. "And we'll pick you up after school when you need to tutor Mikey. That or get a friend to come with you."

"I can't ask you guys to do that," Alex said, shaking her head. _Nor do I want it!_

"Sure you can, Beautiful!" Mikey smiled, standing to do a pose as if a hero on the front of a comic. "That's what friends do!" he said then deflated. "Unless, we aren't friends," he murmured, his blue eyes turning into almost a kicked puppy look.

Alex stood up, which freaked Don out, but she ignored it. "Hey," she said, bumping his chin up, making him look at her. "We're friends, Mikey. You're stuck with me."

Mikey smiled and hugged her again, this time careful of her injuries. "Then let us walk you home."

Alex sighed, nodding her head. "Okay," she agreed. "Someone picks me up at school one tutoring days and then drops me off after. But that's it. No more charity. I'll have my brothers take care of me the rest of the way."

"Deal," Leo laughed a bit and stood to take her hand in a friendly manner. "You're our first friend, Alex."

"Yeah, let us worry about you," Don said grinning at her while Raph was quiet for once. Not saying anything insulting.

Alex wanted to remark in the whole worry thing, but she remembered her conversation that morning with Kerry and Fred and swallowed her comment. "Thanks, guys," she said, opting for something that wouldn't cause another argument.

"Yeah," Raph murmured. "No problem...Butch,"

"Raphie."


	7. The Bully

It's really weird for me to actually have so many chapters done ahead of time. I try to remember to post on Fridays for you guys, but I always forget I actually have the chapters to post. Normally I post them right after I have them finished. But I'll try harder... Hope you guys like it.  
Check out my other TMNT Series (starts with **Just Another Human Ninja** \- Alex's first story), as well as the other writer for this story, **StillDoll13** and her new TMNT story, which is Kerry's story,** Vestige.**

* * *

Chapter 7

The Bully

For the whole week and the follow, Alex was picked up three days a week primarily by Mikey or Don, though Leo has filled in one day when Don was hands deep in grease and oil from working on some motorcycle or something and Mikey had been grounded for not cleaning his room (and, boy, Alex had to agree with Master Splinter on that one, because Mikey's room was a dump).

The other two days Kerry and Fred often walked home with Alex, normally one or the other. Fred generally hung around on Tuesdays because he hated Tuesdays as much as Mondays, while Kerry stuck around on Thursdays until she had to go to work at April's, which was only about three or four blocks from Alex's apartment building.

Alex had never been more busy in her life, she found. She worked, basically, three jobs if tutoring was counted as a job, though she didn't get paid. She worked with Mikey on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from about three o'clock in the afternoon, thirty minutes after she'd get out of school until four-thirty, though she'd been staying a little later lately due to the materials natural progression and Mikey's slower pick up on the information. After which Alex would basically run to April's to work in the 2nd Time Around until closing time, at around nine o'clock. She was just lucky April allowed her to work on her homework while she was working at the counter.

Tuesdays and Thursdays weren't as busy right after school, seeing as she had some time to hang out with her friends for an hour or so after school. to which they generally spent time doing homework while watching TV or listening to much. At five o'clock, Alex had to go to work at the dojo, helping instruct classes until nine o'clock, and then help clean up the dojo, which took another hour or so.

Fridays were easier because she only had tutoring to attend to. She often went out with her friends, much like she had the night of the Franco's incident, though now she didn't' leave without Kerry or Fred, though Freddy more often than Kerry.

Saturdays were the busiest of all. Alex spent the early morning setting up everything for the dojo. Classes started at seven o'clock in the morning (though it was yoga, not martial arts) and the various classes of yoga, ninjutsu and cardio kickboxing didn't end until ten in the evening. Alex generally didn't' get to sleep until after midnight on those day, but she had nothing to worry about because she had no work on Sundays. Sundays were for sleep, to do homework and to study.

But it wasn't Sunday, it was one of Alex's busier days, being Wednesday and the first day of October, which meant her birthday was coming up in a couple weeks. Alex was rather annoyed that her birthday was coming up. She hated her birthday. She generally didn't tell people when it was. Fred was one of the only people in her group of friends that knew when her birthday was and he kept it quiet for her because he knew just how much she didn't like celebrating it, though he would always take her out to dinner just the two of them for her birthday.

"Where are you going?" a familiar going laughed from around the corner.

Alex glanced up from her watch having hear the high pitched, cringe worthy voice of Amanda Snow filling her ears. She glanced around the corner of the bench she was leaning against that wrapped around the school to see the blonde teenager.

What Alex saw, she most definitely didn't' like. Amanda had her rather orange (caused by excessive fake spray tans) hand on a younger girls arm was pulling her roughly to the side. "What the fuck was that?" She said lowly to the girl.

"I just want to go home," the younger girl said in a timid voice. She was most likely a freshman, Alex found. The young girl, whose hair was dyed a bright green tried to move around her, desperate to make an exit.

"You know the world would just be better if you weren't in it right?" she whispered lowly to the girl."God, it's kind of pathetic if you think Arthur would believe I was cheating on him with your brother."

"But you are!" the younger girl stated. "And it's no fair to either of them! You told my brother you broke up with Arthur!"

"There's no harm in what I'm doing." Amanda smirked. "I'll be done with him soon."

Alex scoffed, moving out into the open. She crossed her arms over her chest, making her way over to her ex-friend and the young girl. "Who?" Alex asked. "Both, I hope, because all you're doing is hurting everybody involved."

The redhead removed the blonde's hand off of the young girl's arm and turned her attention to her. "Why don't you head home?" she suggested. "Tell our brother what she's really like. That should end things."

"Thanks," the girl muttered, scurrying away from the two older Juniors.

"Please, Lex what do _you _even know about this stuff?" Amanda laughed, yanking her arm away. "I feel so sorry for you," she said in a pouty way.

"You feel sorry for me?" Alex asked, an eyebrow raised questioningly. She had no idea where she was going with this, but she was finding it slightly amusing. What was she talking about? Alex was perfectly fine! Nothing was going on with her!

"It's sad really how no guy would ever want to date you," Amanda said shrugging. "I mean look at you! Are you even a girl to begin with? I'd get my money back on that sex change _Lex."_

Alex's smirk dropped, her stomach sinking from the low blow. _What_? she thought. "W-what's wrong with the way I look?" she asked, no amusement or confidence left in her voice anymore.

"Come on," Amanda said putting a hand on the girl shoulder, as if really concerned for the girl over the matter. "I know those hormone pills must mess with your emotion, but I didn't think you're delusional. Look in the mirror."

"I do look in the mirror," Alex stated, shifting on her feet slightly, due to how uncomfortable she was. "I-I just don't go over the top."

"Maybe you should!" Amanda said as if giving advice. "Maybe then you'd get a boyfriend."

"What's the point in having a boyfriend if he doesn't like how you look without any of that?" she asked, thinking she had a valid point.

"But if they never see you at your best, they have no hope that you'd ever get past your worst, right?" Amanda said shooting her down. "They'll never take that first step to asking you out. When was the last time a guy complimented you without you having makeup, who was _not_ one of your friends."

Alex opened her mouth to reply, but she found she had no answer. She had Mikey and Don tell her she was pretty once or twice, but they were her friends. It was their job to make her feel better about that kind of stuff. And then there was Raph, who would always tell her that she was more man than girl. Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn't just teasing her and was just stating facts.

"Oh, but I'm being so insensitive," Amanda said. "You might not be into guys. But even lesbians like girls who look good."

"I-I'm not a lesbian," Alex muttered, glancing away from the blonde. _I couldn't even get _that _attention if I wanted to?_

"I've known you for years, Alex, and you've never had a boyfriend," Amanda pointed out.

Alex wrapped her arms around herself. "S-So?" she asked. "M-Maybe I'm not looking."

"Maybe there's a reason."

"Alex?" A familiar friendly voice called out, this one sweeter and more welcome. Don had arrived finally to pick her up. "You there?" He asked as he looked around the front of the school where normal stood.

Alex snapped out of her daze and turned to look at Don's head popping around the corner. "U-Uh, yeah," Alex called back to him. "I'm here. I'll be right there!" Alex turned back to Amanda, giving her a rather sad and depressed look before she just shook her head and walked away from her, making her way to Donatello.

Don smiled a bit, unaware of what just went down, after all from his distance it looked like she was talking with a friend. He gave her a side hug. "Hey! How was life on the other side?" he asked, talking about public school.

Alex shrugged, glancing back as the walked down the street. Amanda was leaning against the fence, smirking at the girl in triumph. She shook her head, turning back to look in front of her, realizing that she hadn't actually answered Don's question. "Uh, the usual, I guess," she stated.

"You guess?" Don asked, noting something was wrong but decided to go for the 'cheer her up' choice. "Come on! I need more information. I've decided to research the life of a normal high school student and you're my subject!" He said jokingly.

Alex smiled a little. _Leave it to Don to come up with that kind of study_, she thought. "If there was anything interesting," she started to say, "I'd tell you."

"I thought high school was boring, so wouldn't it make sense that the info you give me is boring?" he teased as they walked.

"That makes sense," she said, nodding her head. "Well, then, if you must know, I spend most of the day just taking notes. I skipped lunch to work on a history project in the library. That's basically it for during the day."

_And then there was what happened five minutes ago,_ Alex thought. A small sigh escaped her lips as she kept walking, getting closer to his house with each step. A_manda's a jerk, but she's not dumb_, she continued. _She wouldn't get away with all of the things she does if she was stupid. And she _does _get a lot of attention from both boys and girls_.

Alex glanced down at her phone, seeing the dark reflection of herself in the screen. She bit her natural colored lip. Was she really that bad? She never wore makeup, and her lips were slightly chapped from how often she bit them, but that didn't make her unattractive, right? She was just natural.

Or plain. And plain was boring, right? Maybe she _was _too boring for people to notice or to take an interest in.

"Hey," Don said taking her hand in a brotherly way, tugging at it. "Are you okay Alex?"

Alex glanced up and as she looked into his warm brown eyes, almost spilled every detail of what happened to her that afternoon, but then stopped. Donatello may have been one of the more plain looking Hamato children, but Don was still extremely attractive. He was tall, he had darker features, fitting the description of tall, dark, and handsome. His warm eyes made anybody that looked into them want to smile and be friendly with him. He had a natural sweetness about him; as if he never had a bad thought about anyone. His dark hair was messy sure, but it was an attractive messy whether it was in his short ponytail or loose around his head(which was rarely). Kerry never admitted it out loud, but Alex knew the older girl wanted to run her hands through it.

Alex mustered up the most believable smile she could and nodded. "Yeah, everything's okay," she told him.

"You sure? You dazed out there," Don said then blushed. "And just now you kinda just..stared at me really oddly."

"You're adorable, you know that?" Alex told him, trying to change the subject. If she didn't feel good about herself, maybe she could give Donatello a little bit of confidence. Just because she wasn't appealing didn't mean Don had to go around thinking that he wasn't.

"W-w-what?!" Don asked his face going almost as red as his brother's hair. "A-Alex where did that come from?!" he said running a nervous hand through his hair.

The girl shrugged, some of her red hair falling off of her shoulder in the action. "Nowhere, really," she muttered. "I just wanted you to know that."

"Well, it was weird," he murmured a bit, his shyness getting the best of him. He looked at her before running a hand through the strand of her hair that fell. "B-But...your really pretty too," he murmured. "I mean, guys would really fall for a girl like you. I-I mean not that I-! I mean not that I wouldn't- I-I mean I like-..._Nevermind_!"

The girl snorted. _I can't even compliment a friend on their appearance and make them feel good?_ Alex asked herself. _And he only complimented me back because he felt obligated to because of what I said. _A sigh escaped her throat again. _Maybe I really am that undateable._

"Come on, Mikey is waiting for you," Don said with a groan at his embarrassment call his mouth.

"Right," Alex said, still lost in thought. She shook her head, trying to focus. She had a job to do and she planned on doing it. She owed it to Mikey. "_Right_. Time to work."


	8. Run

Words go here...

* * *

Chapter 8

Run

"Mr. Scoutan's a dick," Alex blurted out on her run with Kerry that afternoon.

The two girls were running through central park that Thursday afternoon, before either of them had to go to work. Kerry had gone home with Alex after school and the two girl's changed into their running clothes. Alex was in a deep green sports bra and a pair of black spandex shorts that showed off quite a bit of her legs. Her red hair was pulled back out of her face, keeping her cooler.

"What did he do this time?" Kerry asked as she took one earphone out of her ear.

"He assigned an eight page packet on organic reactions due Monday," Alex complained. "The _dick_," she muttered. "On top of that, we have a test on Monday."

"Okay, now I'm _really_ glad I wasn't here for his class." the girl said.

"He's such a, a, a _dick_!" Alex went on, unable to come up with another name for him.

"Heard you the first time, hon." Kerry laughed as she pulled out ahead. "But if you keep talking, I'll lap ya!"

"Oh, no you won't!" Alex yelled, quickly pushing harder to catch up.

Kerry laughed as she turned fully around and burst off into a sprint. Alex rolled her eyes and ran off after her. It was always the same with Kerry and Alex when they went off on their runs. It would always turn into Alex chasing after Kerry for some reason or another. Alex was more of a distance runner, while Kerry liked to sprint.

Kerry soon slowed down into a jog, breathless from her fast burst of speed and laughing too much, causing her to end in a coughing fit. Alex collapsed onto the grass next to where Kerry was bent over, gasping for air.

Kerry plopped down next to her on her stomach, catching her breath as she tried to chuckle. "I was... the last on ...my feet. Woot," she gasped at her.

"Shut….Up…Fruit...Cake" Alex said between breaths.

"Shut..your ...face...dorkfish" Kerry panted back. "I am...boss."

"Hey, look what I found!" a familiar playful voice yelled.

Alex's head turned, too tired to lift it up off the ground to see Mikey and his brothers jogging over to where Alex and Kerry were resting on the grass.

All four of the teenage boys were wearing basketball shorts, but that was about it. Their top halves were all bare, showing off their muscular chests and abs to the world. Alex had to look away from running her eyes over their abs, especially Raph's since his was one of the most defined.

"Shit shit shit! I look like...well..shit." Kerry groaned fist hitting the ground in embarrassment.

"At least...you...can breathe…" Alex gasped out, still unable to catch her breath.

Kerry groaned wanting to disappear before-

"Kerry, Alex!" Mikey cheered as he jogged over to them.

Alex raised her hand before it fell limply to the ground. "Hey," she gasped. She turned her head in Kerry's direction and scowled tiredly. "I...hate...you."

"How is this my fault?" Kerry groaned.

"I...distance," she said. "You...sprint….far too much…._Ow, cramp_!"

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to Alex.

"She can't handle my awesome!" Kerry said sitting up far too fast and getting a head rush, falling back into Mikey's arms.

"Fruitcake," Alex muttered at her best friend.

"Dorkfish." Kerry shot back subconsciously.

"You guys sure your best friends?" Raph scoffed as he sat down on the grass as Donatello came around to check on the girls.

"Most definetly," Alex said without gasping. "Why? Don't all best friends do this?" she asked.

"We are each other's best friends so you can understand how that can be kind of a warp sense," Don murmured as he sat her up gently.

"Wouldn't that make Raph and Leo best friends," Mikey thought. "If all best friends were like you two?"

"No!" both Leo and Raph yelled.  
Kerry gave a laugh. "They're frienemies." she corrected as Don moved on to her, causing her to blush as he took her arms and sat her up correctly. She peeked at him before looking down to the ground.

"You okay?" Don asked the black haired girl.

"U-Uh yeah," Kerry said forcing herself not to revert to her accept or her 'southern-isms.'

_Of course she's fine, _Alex thought with a smirk. _Don's got her._ She looked away and to the three other brothers. "How are you guys?" she asked.

"Great, now that I see my girls again." Mikey said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ignore him." Raph grunted, shoving his brother by his face.

"We're fine, Alex," Leo said rolling his eyes. "Yourself?"

"Eh," she said. "Could be better. Could be worse. It's just one of those days."

"What do you mean?" Don asked. "What's wrong?"

Alex sighed. _I couldn't just keep my fat mouth shut, could I? _"It's just my chemistry teacher," she told them, hoping it'd be enough to get them to back off.

"He's being a dick, to quote Alex," Kerry said finally better. "He's overloading her."

"Uh, he's such a _dick_!" Alex growled again, angry all over again. "He's prejudice against redheads. I swear that's the only reason he's doing this. Because of my hair!"

"U-Uh, you're hair?" Don asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Alex said with a firm nod. "My hair. He hates redheads!"

"How could he hate you?" Mikey asked. "You're great!"

"Suck up," Raph muttered.

Alex ignored him. "Aw, thank you, Mikey," she said.

"There's some stupid rumor about a woman with red hair leaving him or something." Kerry shrugged. "So now he hates all redheads."

"The _dick_!" Alex muttered again.

"Sounds like it to me," Raph agreed with her for once.

"You're just saying that because you're a redhead," Mikey said.

"Am not," Raph protested.

"It's true," Leo pointed out.

"_Dick_," Alex muttered.

"Is she going to keep saying that?" Don asked Kerry.

"Yeah, she isn't a champion swearer like I am. No swearing creativity." Kerry smirked at him.

"Fuck you, bitch," Alex shot at her.

"Lick my clit," Kerry said on instinct. She really was a pro.

Alex laughed at the reactions the guys gave. Raph and Leo's head shot in Kerry's direction, while Don's mouth fell open to the ground. Mikey just cracked up.

"Sorry, Fruitcake," Alex said. "I don't swing that way."

"I can make anyone swing in anyway which direction I please." Kerry shrugged.

"No, you can't," Alex protested.

"Oh, come on. You know you-"

"Please," Don said covering her mouth. "Can we stop it? Please." He groaned a bit, face bright red. It didn't help she was dressed in tight workout pants and sports bras.

"You guys are far too squirrely," Alex said. "You need to get out more."

"I quite enjoy this actually," Mikey chuckled. "She's right, she is creative."

"Another way is to take any swear word or body part and put it with a kitchen utensil." Kerry shrugged. "Nipple Juicer." She said as an example.

"Oh boy," Alex groaned, laying back on the grass. "Here we go."

"Dickpan." Mikey murmured.

"Mikey!" Leo scolded.

"Scrotum whisk." Raphael joined in.

"Ass-" Kerry started.

"Enough!" Leo ordered.

"Yeah, that escalated quickly," Alex laughed, sitting back up, using her arms to support herself from behind.

"It could have gone worse, but I didn't want to scare off my new friends." Kerry chuckled a bit with a smile, as she laid down on her stomach. Alex's hand went to the girl's hair, on instinct. She always fiddled with people's hair when they did something like that. Kerry smiled at the action with a chuckle.

"Hey, we've managed to stand the Butch this long," Raph said, nodding his head to the female redhead.

_And there's the insult,_ Alex thought, rolling her eyes and looking away. _I'm the Butch. I'm always the Butch. Amanda's right. I'm nothing more than the Butch. Smart guys like Don don't go for people like me. Neither do funny guys like Mikey, confident guys like Leo or the bad boy hotties like Raph. I'm just the Butch. The best friend. That girl that's always just around to have a good time with._

"Ralphie," she shot back at him, her voice rather low.

"Butch-" Raph started to say but was suddenly tackled to the ground by a dark haired blur. "Fuck!"

"Kerry?" Alex asked, turning her head at the girl.

"What just happened?" Mikey asked.

Kerry and Raph were rolling around on the group, taking swiped at each other and swearing up a storm. Fists flew and kicks were thrown.

Realizing what was going on, Alex quickly got up off the ground and rushed over to pull Kerry away from Raph. "Kerry, calm down!" Alex tried. "_Breathe_!"

"Fucking bitch," Raph spat at her as Leo pulled him back. "What the hell?"

"You don't get to talk to her that way!" Kerry hissed and lunged at him again, Don stepping in to help Alex hold her back.

"Kerry, relax," Alex pressed. She felt horrible this was all because of her. "It's not a big deal." Though she really _didn't _like it when he called her that. She just didn't want them to fight because of her. She didn't think she was worth it. "It's not worth it!"

"It's a joke!" Raph insisted. "And see, she says so."

Kerry narrowed her eyes at him. "You still shouldn't call her that, you ass!" Kerry said but stopped trying to hit him. Don sighed and lightly patted her head, muttering something about them being too much alike.

"_Whatever_," Raph muttered.

"No, she's right," Leo said. "You shouldn't call her that."

"Come on," she sighed. "It's not big deal, guys. Can we just drop it?" she begged.

"I'm cool with that." Kerry sighed as she went to sit back down, rubbing her cheek a bit where Raph got a good hit in.

"Well, we had Raph and Kerry fight," Mikey said, "now all we need is for Alex and Kerry to fight. I'd need popcorn for that one."

"Mikey!" Leo scolded.

"What? It's one of my fantasies!" he said. "And they'd be fighting over me!"

"You and pretty much every guy ever," Raph chuckled. "Girls fight? It's hot."

"Raph, not helping," Leo said.

"Oh, come on, Leo," Raph said. "You can't honestly say you haven't had that fantasy?"

"Uh, well," Leo muttered.

"What about you, Don?" Alex asked, chuckle in her voice.

"Like the thought of two girls fighting over you?" Kerry teased him.

"Is there a right answer to that?" Don asked, face red. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry cutie pie, but no, no there is not." Kerry chuckled not catching what she called him.

"Hey, a fantasy's a fantasy," Alex said. "Everybody has them. You can dream about whatever the hell you guys want."

"What's yours then Alex?" Kerry snickered.

"I'll tell if you tell," Alex laughed, not believing that Kerry would tell.

"Hmm deal," Kerry said nodding slowly. "It's only fair since we heard the guys. Oh! But they have to say another fantasy individually!" She said pointing to the guys with a grin.

_Oh shit_, Alex thought. _I don't actually want to tell them!_

"Okay," Mikey said, plopping down on the grass, legs crossed. "Well, another one would have to be taking a figure drawing class with a smokin' girl."

"You mean," Alex said, "like those naked drawing classes?"

"I took one of those." Kerry said nonchalantly.

"You did?" Alex asked.

"Oh, don't tell me that!" Mikey groaned, tipping backwards from being flustered.

"Why not?" Kerry chuckled.

"Now you're in there with the hot girl!" he told her.

Kerry blushed. "And what is wrong with me?!" Kerry said crossing her arms.

"Nothing, that's the point," Alex told her, swatting her arm. "Think about it, Fruitcake. Even _I_ got that."

"O-Oh," Kerry murmured blushing causing Don to scowl a bit and kick his brother slightly.

"Okay, Leo?" Mikey asked.

"Oh, uh, training session turned steamy," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, training is already physical and stuff so it's not a stretch."

"Yeah, not training with you anymore, man," Raph muttered.

"Dude gross!" Leo said hitting him.

"Or, it kind of is a stretch," Alex said. "_If you know what I mean._"

Kerry started laughing. "I don't know, I'd be _flexible_ to the idea."

"We _are_ quite the acrobats," Alex chuckled. The two girls were having far too much fun teasing the boys.

"Stop giving me ideas!" Mikey groaned.

"What? Not enjoying the imagery, Mikey?" Alex teased. Kerry smirked and gave a wink to Alex as she stood up. She walked a little ways away before she did a complete backbend. "Show off," Alex muttered.

"You can do it too," Kerry pointed out as she slowly did a handstand and came back down into splits, causing the guys to blush.

"Yeah, but I'm too tired to get up," Alex said.

"Just thought I'd give the guys an example." Kerry smiled a bit.

"You _temptresses_!" Mikey cried.

"Okay, Don?" Alex asked. "What's your's?"

"Huh?" he grumbled, not paying attention as he stared at Kerry's chest. "W-Well, a beautiful lab assistant," he muttered, not willing to go on, but it was implied. Kerry felt heat rush up to her cheeks thinking about all the possibilities. Oh god she just might get a nosebleed!

Alex glanced up at the other redhead of the group. "Raph?" she asked.

"Uh," Raph murmured in thought. "I've always liked hair pulling, in my opinion." He smirked.

Alex bit her lip. She had always enjoyed it a little too much when people played or styled her hair. It was far too relaxing and enjoyable to her. She could never resist or turn down someone when they offered to brush her hair, or to braid it. There was just something about it that made Alex's stomach go wild.

"Your's or her's?" Kerry asked.

"Both."

"Didn't expect that," Alex stated, cheeks slightly red, seeing as one of her pleasures was one of his.

"Hm? He seems to be the type though." Kerry shrugged, not getting that she also had a fantasy about it.

"And what would a girl with that fantasy look like?" Mikey asked. "I mean, if _he _looks like it, what would she?"

_Oh, mikey! Don't ask that! _Alex thought, wanting to crawl under a rock.

"Uh, I guess," Kerry murmured thoughtfully. "It'd be unexpected for the girl, she'd be sweet and stuff but kind have a dark underbelly," Kerry joked. "Sorry, not into the forceful stuff, Mikester."

"You just described Alex," Mikey pointed out. "Right? Come on, tell us you have a dark underbelly, Alex!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alex asked, trying to deny the fact that it was actually true.

"Ignore him, his brain isn't the one in charge of his mouth right now," Leo groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is it ever?" Raph scoffed. "Alright girls, fess up. We shamed our selved for your entertainment, it's your turn now."

"Kerry?" Alex asked, making the black haired girl go first.

"Fine fine," Kerry sighed. "Shower sex," she said squeezing her eyes shut to avoid looking at their faces. "Hot shower sex, okay?"

The four boys stared at the girl. Throughout all of their confessions, none of them had even said the word sex. Kerry, on the other hand, went right out and blurted it as if it was as easy as saying 'the.'

"_Damn_," Mikey groaned.

Kerry groaned hiding her face in her hands. "Shhhhit. I didn't mean to say that much."

"Well, you did," Alex chuckled. "Now they're all imagining that!"

"Don?" Leo asked, seeing as Don was staring off across the street.

"What?" he jumped.

_Aw, _Alex thought. _He's having a fantasy! About Kerry, I bet! That's so cute and kind of weird since we all here out in public together..._

"You okay?" Leo asked. "You spaced."

"F-F-Fine," he stuttered, keeping his eyes to the ground. "Are we done talking about this yet?" he asked.

"No!" Kerry snapped. "I embarrassed myself so now it's Alex's turn!"

"Yeah, Alex," Mikey pressed. "What's your dark fantasy? I'm sure it's really good."

"I-I-I wouldn't say it's that dark," she murmured, pulling her legs up to her chest, which gave the guys a great view of her legs.

"Just tell us already!" Mike begged.

"W-Well," Alex said, "_Ivotsathingferhancuves._"

"What?" Kerry asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"I've got a thing for handcuffs, okay?" she repeated louder.

"You're a badge bunny?" Raph asked with a smirk.

"Oh honey, I think every girl is deep down," Kerry murmured quietly.

"Do you have a thing for hair too?" Mikey asked. "Because that would go along with the whole dark thing."

Alex groaned, hiding her face in her hands. Her face had to be fifty shades of red for sure!

"Enough with the darkside, Mikster!" Kerry said hitting his arm. "Seriously, how did this conversation start again? Oh yeah, its Alex's fault."

"No, it's _Raph_!" Alex said. "He's the one that called me Butch."

"What does that have to do with this?!" Raph asked blinking at her.

"If you didn't call me Butch, you and Kerry wouldn't have started to fight. If you two didn't fight, Mikey wouldn't have said the whole thing about the two of us fighting," Alex explained.

"Yeah, so it's Raph's fault," Kerry said. "Everyone in agreement say 'aye'."

"Aye!"

"I hate people," Raph muttered.

"Oh crap!" Alex muttered, seeing the it me on her ipod. "I have to go home. I've gotta work in half an hour!" Alex stood up, giving the guys a great view of her legs again and dusted herself off. "It was, uh, nice chatting?"

"You have to go?" Mikey pouted.

"Duty calls," Alex said.

"Hehe, you said duty," he laughed. "_Ow_, Dude!" he groaned when Raph hit him over the back of the head.

"You leaving me along with these fiends?!" Kerry play gasped. "_Again_?"

"I never said you had to stay," Alex told her. "But I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, everybody." She waved over her shoulder, running off to head to work.


	9. Return of the Bully

Chapter 9

Return of the Bully

"Is everybody still going out to Franco's tonight?" Alex asked, walking with Kerry to their lockers to dump of everything they didn't need for the weekend. She dropped off more than half of the content of her bag into the locker, not needing any of it.

"As far as I know," Kerry said as she put her government book into her backpack to study. "I'm on call at the cafe and Taylor has been skipping lately so I might get called in though," she said. "So I might not be going."

"I think I'm going to skip tonight," Alex stated, zipping up her backpack before swinging it over her shoulder. She closed her locker and turned to the older girl. "I'm not really in the mood."

She hadn't really been in the mood to do much of anything with anybody lately. Every time she looked at her friends she'd see how pretty or handsome they were, and it would remind her of what Amanda had said to her about the way the redhead looked. Plus, seeing how cozy Phoebe and Rudy, and Kiley and Erik were, it just reminded her of how alone she was in the whole dating department.

"Are you okay?" Kerry asked softly. "I mean, you haven't seemed like yourself lately."

Alex shrugged, putting the other strap of her backpack on as they two girls headed down the hallway. "I'm tired," she stated, which was actually the truth, just not the whole story.

"Well," Kerry said slowly. "You are scheduled to peak capacity."

"Yeah, so I might just rest tonight after tutoring," she said with an absent minded nod.

"Sure, do what you have too," she said nodding. "Come on by the cafe if you want, around 8 is when we slow down," she said and bumped shoulders with her. "I can wait on you hand and foot," she joked.

Alex rolled her eyes with a small smirk playing on her lips. "Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better," she stated. Once outside, Alex stopped at the gate, having to wait for one of the guys to come and get her. Kerry hung back a moment.

"Hey," Kerry said, sounding a bit shy suddenly. "I'm here, if you want to talk," she said slowly.

"I know," Alex said. "Thanks, but I'm okay." Alex's stomach dropped, causing her to glance away from Kerry and to the school, seeing Amanda walking out. She gulped slightly and turned back to Kerry, a smile on her lips. "You get going. I've just to wait for one of the guys."

"U-uh right," she said clearing her throat. "Right, nothing to talk about," she said rubbing her arms a bit. "See ya tomorrow at the dojo," she said and headed off quickly.

Alex sighed, leaning back against the gate a little more, happy that just in case Amanda came back over to her like she had done the day before when Alex was finishing up her project in the library for lunch to continue degrading her, that her best friend wouldn't see. She didn't want to get Kerry all worked up about the whole thing. And if Kerry did happen to find out, Alex feared she'd get expelled for fighting.

"Hey!" Amanda said as if she was happy to see a friend. "It's my favorite transvestite!"

Alex sighted, a pained expression dancing across her face as she bit her lip. She knew it was coming. Why did it still feel like such a blow to the chest though? The girl opened her green eyes, focusing on the brown eyes of the blonde girl. "Amanda," Alex greeted.

"How's it going? Take of the beauty tips I gave you?" Amanda asked. She had been referring to the comment she had made at the library about stuffing her locker with dog grooming gear.

_Does it look like I've changed anything to you? _she thought, but didn't dare say. Saying it would have just made things worse for her.

"Oh, come on, it was just in good fun," Amanda pouted at the lack of a response. "Though I heard that guys like a bitch with a shiny coat."

Alex looked at the blonde. She did have rather pretty hair, even if it had been dyed blonde far to many times to be considered healthy and alive. But she always wore it in different ways and she was rather good at it. Alex only ever wore her hair down or up in a messy ponytail whenever it was bothering her. She never put any thought into it.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, Bitch?" Amanda said, words getting more violent as she got no response. "I think we need to change that," she growled grabbing Alex's arm tightly in her orange painted hand. " I know boyfriends want their girlfriends to be submissive, but they _do _expect some response when talking to you."

Alex bit her lip and pulled her arm out of Amanda's grasp, causing the blonde's manicured nails to scratch into her skin, leaving thin red streaks. She ignored the slight burning sensation, having been through much worse, even two weeks ago. A scratch was nothing, but her actions weren't nothing to Amanda.

"Hey!" A voice called out and Amanda's grip disappeared. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Raph snapped as he marched over, fists clenched.

"_Raph_?" Alex asked, turning to look at the male redhead. She was beyond shocked to see him there. Not once had he ever gone on pick-up duty. She thought he didn't think it was worth his time, seeing as his brothers were normally so eager to go see their first female friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," he said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Duh, you idiot. Now who's the dumb bimbo?" he asked stepping between her and Amanda, as if shielding her.

"Raph?" Alex asked, questioning his action.

"Mmm, and who are you?" Amanda asked, looking Raphael up and down. "I'm surprised someone as hot as you would be hanging around a girl like Lex."

Alex shrunk back, practically hiding herself behind Raph's strong frame. She avoided looking at the taller redhead, feeling his eyes on her when she moved behind him. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to tell anybody. She just wanted it all to go away! She didn't want to deal with any of that!

"Tch," Raph scoffed. "Why would I tell you who I am? God, makes me sick even thinkin' you might know me," he said and Amanda's face fell. "And so what if I'm with her? She's better company than you, that's for sure."

"Oh, honey, you don't know what kind of company I can offer," Amanda said, running one of her hands up Raph's strong arms, feeling him up just as much as she was trying to seduce him. "Far better company than the transvestite, that's for sure!"

"Leave him alone, Amanda," Alex pleaded, peaking out from behind Raph. "He's got nothing to do with this."

"Right, nothing to do with this. He can't be your boyfriend," Amanda said, finding that thought rather humorous. "Remember, we've had this discussion. You have nothing to offer a boy, let alone a man like him," she said, nudging her head in Raph's direction.

Alex crossed her arms and shrank again.

"What if I was her boyfriend?" Raph asked eyes narrowing, to which both Amanda and Alex's heads snapped in his direction, eyes showing just how truly shocked they were at the insinuation. "That would mean you just insulted my girl. And I don't take to kindly to things like that," he said and got in amanda's face.

Amanda laughed. "You can't be serious, can you?"

"I'm very serious," he said and shoved her back. "And I like to think if you can talk trash, you can take the fight that comes with it," he hissed at her. "What's it going to be, Bitch?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes, but stepped back. She shook her head and said, "I'm not buying this. I'll see you on Monday, Lex." With that, the blonde turned away, leaving the two redheads alone.

Raph watched Amanda go, making sure she was out of earshot for when he turned to Alex and asked, "What the hell was that about?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"Nothing? That's what you call nothing?" Raph asked, grabbing her arm, below where she had been scratch. He moved her arm so that it was in her line of sight. "This is nothing?"

"Compared to what Hun did? Yes," she said, narrowing her eyes before shifting them away.

"How could you just stand there and listen to what she was saying? You didn't do anything to defend yourself!" he continued, his voice getting louder as the level of his anger increase.

"Because talking only makes it worse!" Alex stated, her voice getting louder as well.

"That's when you get help!" Raph said as he looked over her scratch with an odd gentleness.

"Help? Help from who?" Alex asked. "You don't know anything about any of this, Raphael! I've tried to stand up to her before. That _never _got me anywhere!"

"Well, you can't possibly believe any of that crap she was saying, can you?" Raph said. "She's just saying it get you to react! That's what bullies do!"

"Oh, I can't?" Alex huffed. She turned away from him, running a hand through her long red hair before turning back to Raph, her face as read as either of their hair, hot tears welling up in her eyes from embarrassment and anger. "And why's that, huh? From where I'm standing, everything she says is true! She's not the first person to tell me any of that. So what else am I supposed to believe?"

"Who the hell would tell you something like that?" Ralph asked.

"_You_!" Alex screamed. "You say things like that to me _all _the time. Why wouldn't it be true?" She turned away, trying to walk away from him, but he followed right behind. "What can I say? I don't get attention from guys. I don't get dates. I've never even had a boyfriend." She quickly turned to Raph and said, "It's the truth. You're both just saying what right in front of me! You're just stating the facts."

"You always fought back against me!" Raph growled. "I thought you could take shit more than that. Your tough, probably the toughest girl I've ever met. If it bugged you so much you could have asked me to stop, honestly," he growled.

"Just ask you to stop? Just like that?" Alex huffed. "Yeah, and you didn't get that I didn't like it in the first place? I highly doubt you would have just stopped."

"I would've," he told her. "I was joking around. I didn't mean any of it!"

Alex backed down a little. "You didn't mean it?"

"No!" he yelled, getting worked up about the whole situation. "And maybe guys don't ask you out because they don't know how to approach you, huh? That Fred guy-

"Whoa! What does Freddy have anything to do with this?" she demanded.

"You really don't know?" Raph said looking at her bewildered before shaking his head and continuing walking. "God, you're dense."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she pressed, moving in front of him.

"Listen if he can't man up and say anything that's his problem," Raph scoffed. "I'm not going to do it for him."

"Raphael!" Alex yelled, grabbing his arm, forcing him to face her. "Don't you dare leave me hanging like this! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Not my shit to tell," he hissed and pulled his arm away before pushing her forward to walk. "Get moving, Mikey is waiting for you."

Alex was angry, but primarily because he left her hanging about Fred. What was he talking about? Fred had nothing to do with the subject. Why bring him up? And why was Raph calling her dense? What wasn't she seeing? And why would Fred need to man up? Fred was strong. Why would he need to be stronger?

"Hurry up. It's bad enough I had to come get you, don't waste my time too!"

"If I'm such a waste of time, why did you even come get me?" Alex asked, staring down at the ground as they walked. "Why stick up for me? If you don't like me that much, why bother with _any _of it?"

"You might waste my time, but that doesn't mean I-" Raph grumbled and kicked at the ground. "That doesn't mean-I...You're okay! Alright? An-and my bros would be really ticked if I let that happen to you. Now shut up and stop saying stupid things about yourself, it's annoying"

Alex glanced up at the boy, his cheeks as red as his hair. _He said I'm okay, _Alex thought, a smirk playing on her lips, her stomach flipping. _Okay, so I guess he doesn't hate me. And he's not all bad if he stuck up for me. _

"Raph?" Alex asked softly.

"Didn't I just say to st-"

He shut up when Alex leaned in and kissed his soft cheek. She backed away, both of their faces as red as their hair. "Thanks," she told him.

He blinked, touching his cheek a bit, as if nobody had ever done that before. He looked away, completely embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, just back off, okay? I don't need your germs, Butch!"

Alex sighed. "So we're back to Butch?" She pushed past Raph, making her way up the front steps of their home. _So, he was lying? I'm still just the Butch? He just stuck up for me because he knew his brothers would be angry if they found out he didn't?_

"Depends, am I Ralph?" he scoffed.

"I only called you that because you called me Butch," Alex stated.

"Then maybe I can compromise and call you something else...Firecracker," he scoffed,

Green eyes rolled. "Well, I guess that's better than _Butch_, but you know, you could just call me by my name," Alex suggested. "It's easy. Alex. Come on, say it. AAAAleeeex."

"Do I look like I care enough to try?" Raph grumbled as they made it in front of his house. "Come on, Don is grounded and Leo is out for a ru-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex said, holding him up. "Donatello? Donny? He got _grounded_?"

"He's not completely innocent, you know," Raph laughed a bit as he opened the door for her as if out of habit.

"Thank you," Alex said politely, going in ahead of him. She turned to him as she took her shoes off, still into the conversation. "Obviously, he's got a thing for Kerry."

"Don't bring the hick into this," Raph rolled his eyes. "No, Don has always had an adventurous side. He sometimes forgets the big picture when he's hyperfocused, with that mind of his, he sometimes doesn't think of repercussions," he grumbled eyes narrowing.

"What did he do?" Alex asked.

"Drove a motorcycle without a license," he answered.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. She couldn't believe it! _Oh, wait until I tell Kerry!_ "He's not the only one," Alex said. "I mean, you did the same thing today for me. There are going to be repercussions."

"What are you talking about? What repercussions?" Raph asked, walking with her down the hallway.

"You basically told Amanda that we were together," she informed him, face red as she opened the door to the common room.

"No, I didn't," Raph smirked. "I ain't stupid, I asked so what if we were and if she takes it that way that's her problem. If she give you shit just call her out on it."

_Which would mean me saying that I don't have a boyfriend, which she'll take and continue to use against me, _Alex thought. _But I guess he's right. He didn't actually say we were going out, so I can't use that to get her to leave me alone. No matter how much I want to. She'd never live that down. _

"Wow, you guys didn't kill each other," Don muttered a bit, looking bored out of his mind as a book sat in his lap. Mikey was over at the couch, TV on. He turned it off when he heard the two enter and turned them.

"Nope," Alex said. "And guess what? Raph said I'm better company!" She was just joking, lightening the mooded. She smirked over at Raph, giving him a small wink to try and keep him quiet about what happened that afternoon. Raph smirked and nodded at his brother.

"Yep."

"What?" Donatello asked blinking. "What do you mean?"

"He said I'm better company," Alex said. "Which means I'm officially accepted into the family!"

"No it doesn't!" Raph grumbled, smirk on his face.

"Sure it does," Alex said. "If Raph says I'm good for you guys to be around, then it must be so, right? Not many people get his approval."

"Yes!" Mikey laughed with a grin as he hopped over the couch and hugged her. "Best sister ever!"

"Ready to do homework?" she asked him.

"Worst sister ever!"

"You got to do it, Mike," Don said as he went back to reading with a sigh.

"Noooooooo," Mikey grumbled.

"Okay, come on. Let's get to work," Alex said, a smile on her lips and laugh in her voice.

Raph glanced over at her from his punching bag, a small smile on his face as he thought, _At least she's happy again. _


	10. Moanful Meat

Chapter 10

Moanful Meat

* * *

"I get why the weapons have to be wood, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Alex grumbled uncharacteristically. She grabbed her drink off of the table, taking a long sip of her Pepsi.

Kerry and Alex were out having dinner on Sunday. Neither of them had to work, and had spent the day hanging out, doing homework and watching movies. They escaped the house to get away from Marcus, who kept making comments about Kerry. Kerry didn't really care, but Alex sure as hell did!

"I know, it sets the balance off!" Kerry said equally displeased. "Even something as simple as a tanto feels really off in my hands when it's competition regulated."

The two girls were talking about their ninjutsu competition weapons. During competitions, they were put against another opponent with a wooden weapon of their choosing. They fought and whoever won the bout, getting the most points, would move on to the next fight, and so on and so forth.

"It's disgusting," Alex stated. "My black katon katana is my specialty. Not that I can't use anything else, it's just, you know. It's my weapon!"

"Do you know how awkward my claws are?" Kerry scoffed. "That's way worse than your sword. I mean, I look so stupid!" she grumbled. "But like you said, it's my weapon. It's like, like my thing!"

"Anything wooden, besides a staff, isn't as powerful as what it's supposed to be!" Alex said.

"I know, you remember last time. I tried to take down that guy from Foot," Kerry said. "And he just laughed me off when my claws hit him! I didn't even leave a bruise on the guy."

"I guess that's kind of the point, though," Alex said.

"Uh, yeah but not when the guy is like twice your size," Kerry grumbled a bit. She had almost been seriously hurt in that fight if she didn't pull a win by using her shortness to her advantage.

"Yeah, but it's the Foot Institute," Alex said. "They never fight fair. It just goes to show how much better we are than them when we come out on top."

"Tell that to my concussion," she groaned a bit as she took a drink. "Bashed me good. And the guy you went up against was trying to break your leg most of the time!"

Alex nodded her head, remembering the moment. "The ass," she stated simply. "Oh, yeah. Speaking of an ass, I forgot to tell you that Raph's not so bad."

"Told you!" Kerry scoffed. "But how did you know? You seemed dead set on him being the bad guy earlier."

"He picked me up on Friday and we talked," Alex said. "By the way, did you know Don knows how to ride a motorcycle? He got grounded for driving it without a license."

Kerry choked a bit on her drink, eyes going wide and cheeks going wide. "H-He did what?" She asked in shock.

"He got grounded for driving without a license," Alex repeated with a laugh. "I know! I couldn't believe it when Raph told me!"

"B-But he's...so..so good!" Kerry said unable to think of anything else. "I could never imagine him doing something so, so bad," she said.

Alex laughed. "Raph said he can get a little carried away sometimes." She then cracked up. "Get it. Carried away. Kerry. Kerried away!"

Kerry looked at her before slowly bringing her hand up to her face in a face palm. "Why am I friends with you?"

"Hey!" Alex whined.

"I ask my brothers that all the time," a familiar voice said from behind Alex.

The two girl's looked to see Raph, Mikey, Don and Leo walk in. Raph has been the one to make the comment to catch their attention.

"Oh!" Kerry said standing. "Hey boys!" she said and Mikey skipped over to give her a hug, to which she returned with a laugh. Her cheeks were a bit red, scared they had heard what Alex had said about Don being, Kerried away.

"Hey," Alex greeted. "What's up with you guys? We don't usually see you out and about."

"We're just eating," Leo scoffed good heartedly. "We don't stay home all the time. We normally go out to eat on Sundays."

"Cool," Alex said. "Do you guys want to join us? We haven't ordered our food yet and the booth's big enough."

"Yes! I need time with my girls!" Mikey grinned a bit at them.

"You're girls?" Alex asked, scooting over into the middle of the booth, Kerry doing the same.

"Yeah!" Mikey grinned and tossed his arms over their shoulders as they got out of the booth. "You're my best girls!"

"They're your only girls, Chucklehead," Raph scoffed a bit. Everyone scuffled around a bit, displacing Mikey from his spot between his girls. Leo and Raph sat at the ends of the rounded booth table. Next to Leo, Mikey sat with Kerry on his other side. Alex had been able to maneuver around so Don ended up next to the older girl, much to her joy. She would get them together even if it killed her, on the slight downside that left her next to Raph.

"H-Hi, Kerry," Don greeted. "H-How are you?"

"I'm good," Kerry said, peeking at him from the corner of her eyes. "I'm fine! I'm just right as rain I am!" Kerry said then realized her hick was showing again and wanted to face desk. She hid her head in her menu and Alex was just able to make out her mouthing, "God, this is embarrassing."

_Oh, she's going to get me for this, all right,_ Alex thought, smirk in place as she looked at the two. _It's so worth it!_ She shifted her gaze to the menu in her hand.

"Nice, Hick," Raph chuckled a bit as he heard her grumble under her breath.

Alex elbowed the redhead in the ribs, making him grunt. She leaned over and whispered. "Shut up and leave them alone. Can't you see they're happy? You want Donatello to be happy, right?"

"But she's a hick! Is that a lie? No!" He muttered back.

"She's not a hick, you dick," Alex shot at him.

"She's from the south. So she's a hick. It's a common term," Raph rolled his eyes a bit as he looked over the menu. Kerry was just about dying of embarrassment behind her menu.

She knew he didn't mean anything by it, But Alex knew how much Kerry hated being called that. "She doesn't like it when people call her that, Raph," she told him,not looking away from her menu. "Kind of like me with Butch. So, please?"

"Fine fine, but I want to hear it from her too," Raph said. "That h-...girl needs to say when she doesn't like somethin'. Like you."

Alex bumped him lightly with her shoulder, getting him to glance up. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes with a small smile on her face. "Thanks," she whispered.

"How is rain right?" Mikey asked suddenly a confused look on his face before anyone could stop him he poked Kerry, wanting an answer from the horses mouth.

"U-Uh, I actually don't know. It's just a saying," Kerry said lowering her menu. "I've heard it all my life."

"Right as rain is a common saying," Don jumped in quickly. "A lot of people use it across the US," he said shooting his hotheaded brother a glance. "It's like that because rain is natural and there's nothing more 'right' than natural. So she's saying she's alright," Don said. Was this his weird way of defending Kerry?

"See, and brainiac told me he thinks her accent is cute," Raph murmured to Alex with a slight smirk.

"They're cute together," Alex said. "They deserve to find people that make them happy."

"Hey, don't get all chick-flick on me, Firecracker," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, come on," Alex said, nudging him again. "You want Don to be happy. I want Don and Kerry to be happy. They're happy together. It's simple math and logic."

"That's Don's territory, not mine," Raph said and bopped the top of her head gently with his menu.

"Hey," she said with a giggle, smacking him in the arm with her menu. Raph smirked and hit her back.

"Hey!" Kerry said and leaned across Don to hit Raph's hand, causing the brown haired boy to blush darkly from the close proximity.

"What was that for?" Raph asked, glaring at the black haired girl.

"No one hits my Lexi!" Kerry grumbled at him as a waitress came by and got the boys drink orders.

"What's everybody's getting?" Leo asked, still studying the menu.

"Bacon cheeseburger," Alex answered. "They have the best melt in your mouth burgers I've ever had!"

"You're a burger person?" Raph asked. "You look more like a salad girl from how small you are."

"We need protein!" Kerry scoffed. "I for one want cheese fries with ranch."

"Ew, what?" Mikey asked. "That's nasty!"

"Is not! Fries and ranch are awesome. Way better than Ketchup," Kerry argued.

"Have to agree there, ketchup is nasty," Leo murmured.

"You guys are nasty!" Mikey said.

"I only like ketchup with some things," Alex said. "Like with french fries and chicken nuggets." She turned to Raph and said, "And I like salad ever once in a while, but I'm totally a burger person."

"Well, same here. I was planning on the bacon cheese burger myself." Raph nodded.

"Oh, you'll love it," Alex gushed. "Trust me. They put so much bacon on it that it's hard to eat it all inside the burger. It's fantastic."

"Thier avocado burger is also really great." Kerry suggested to the boys. "I actually work here part time during the week. It's one of our most popular items."

"Hm, I'll try it then." Don smiled a bit.

"Wow, you work here?" Mikey asked. "That's awesome!"

"I've never had avocado before," Alex thought out loud.

"It's good. I really like it myself," Leo said. "Though I'm looking at the grilled chicken sandwich."

"Dude, enough with the healthy stuff," Mikey grumbled. "I'm going with the Chipotle Burger."

"Mikey, that is really hot," Kerry said and Mikey smirked and slung an arm around her.

"I know, but contain yourself in front of my bros," he joked.

"I meant the burger!"

Alex choked on her soda. Don gently patted her on the back to help. "Thanks," Alex said. It was then that the waitress came to get their food orders. When that was squared away, Kerry pinched Mikey's hand to get him to pull away.

"Hey, Don?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Alex?" Don answered.

"What's it like riding a motorcycle?" she asked, smirk firmly in place. "I've always wanted to ride on one."

Kerry was the one to start coughing this time, shooting her friend a look as she cheeks flushed dark red. If anyone rode with Don on his bike it'd be her. Don his self went red in the face, looking down as he bit his lip.

"I-I, ummm."

"You do too, right Kerry?" Alex asked, gently nudging her with her foot under the table.

"U-Uh, yeah. I love bikes." Kerry smiled though she kicked Alex back with her own steel toed boot back.

Alex lurched forward, groaned escaping her as she bent down and rubbed in her shin. "Fuck, Kerry! That hurt!"

"I don't know what your talkin' bout darlin,'" Kerry said turning on that overly sweet southern bell voice on. "I didn't do anythin'. And watch your language at the diner table. "

Alex glared, rubbing the large bump on her leg. "Fuckin' steel toed boots," she grumbled.

Raph laughed next to her. "Didn't know you had it in you, Firecracker! You swear like a sailor!"

"I do not," she protested.

"She's right, that's me." Kerry chuckled a bit, better now that she wasn't on the spot.

"I told you," Alex said.

"S-So," Kerry said. "You built the bike?" Kerry asked softly to Donatello.

"Uh, yeah," Don said. "I had to test drive it before I gave it to Raph. It's his bike."

"Why didn't he test drive it then?" Kerry laughed softly and Don smiled a bit.

"He didn't know about it at the time," Don said. "It's a birthday present that he found out about."

"Sorry about the surprise, Bro," Raph said. "But honestly it's the best thing ever man," he said the brightest smile the girls had ever seen on his face.

"When's your birthday?" Alex asked the boy next to her.

"We celebrate all of our birthdays on Halloween," Mikey told them. "We're all adopted and and they're kind of all over the place, so we just do it all at once. On the day Master Splinter took us in."

"That's so cool!" Alex exclaimed. "A Halloween birthday! That sounds like so much fun!"

"Happy early birthday, guys!" Kerry smiled brightly. "That is so cool!"

"When's your birthday, Kerry?" Don asked the girl next to him shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, I still have a ways to go. I turn 18 in July." She smiled.

"You're seventeen?" Mikey asked. "Cool, an older woman!"

Kerry blushed. "Oh quiet!" she muttered a bit embarrassed. "You make me sound like a cougar!"

"You're more of a foxy momma," Alex teased, quickly taking her feet off the ground and away from Kerry. Kerry scowled and tossed her straw wrappers at her.

"I have to agree," Mikey laughed. "Give me your number and I'll save that as your contact," he play flirted a bit, wiggling his eyebrows. Don scowled a bit, he knew his brother didn't mean that, but it put him on edge a bit.

"I just realized none of us have each other's numbers," Alex said. "We should all exchange."

"Oh right!" Kerry said pulling out her phone, on instinct she gave it to Don first, to punch his number in.

One by one they all exchanged numbers, putting in various names for the contacts, pictures and funny ring tones for their tell when calling. Once that was done, the food came out. The door was handed over, and Alex was one of the first to dig in, extremely excited to have her favorite food to eat.

Alex took a slow bite, eyes closed. She put her hand over her mouth as she chewed and sat back, a pleasurable moan escaping the female redhead. She opened her eyes back up and put her hand back down when she was done chewing and had swallowed, noticing her friends all staring at her.

Don was next to her, frozen as he heard the noise come from her throat. Mikey was staring at her, mouth wide open as if he had no idea what just happened. Leo had a dark look in his eyes as he tried to focus on his food. Raphael was staring at the girl, mouth hanging open, burger in his hand, having just about to take a bite. His face was red, green eyes staring into green eyes as half of the bacon and cheese in his burger fell out and onto the plate.

Kerry broke the silence as she burst out into fits of laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Son of a gun!" she cackled a bit, trying to breathe.

Alex's face darkened in embarrassment. "W-What?" Alex asked.

"Honey. I don't roll that way but it sounded even sexy to me," Kerry cackled, coughing breathing became painful.

"Kerry!" Alex scolded, throwing her straw wrapper back at her. She ducked her head, going back to her food, completely mortified with what happened. "S-Shut up."

"What?" Kerry asked. "I'm not the only one to think so."

It was Alex's turn to choke again. She coughed, clearing her throat, hand covering her mouth. Her face was extremely red. _Oh, this can't be happening!_ she thought. _Please don't have them say anything. Please don't let them say anything._

"U-uh, birthday!" Don said suddenly. "When is your birthday?!"

"M-My b-birthday?" Alex asked, thinking that topic was even worse than the whole moaning situation. "Oh, you don't want to know that!" Alex said, trying to tell them the opposite of what they wanted.

"Actually, I do," Kerry said. "I told you mine, you tell me yours?"

"But I don't like my birthday," Alex whined.

"You don't like your birthday?!" Mikey yelled. "What is wrong with you, woman."

"A lot of things," Alex said. "Like my strong dislike for pink, clowns and my birthday."

Raph chuckled next to her. "You don't like clowns?"

"No!" Alex said with a shiver. "They creep me out!"

"Like you should be talking, Raph," Mikey said. "You hate cockroaches."

"You don't like cockroaches?" Alex asked, a smirk on her lips.

"Really? Those itty bitty things?" Kerry asked with a smile.

"Like you should be talking, Kerry," Alex said, referring to Kerry's fear of maggots. "I'm not even going to mention your fear. You'd get up and go wash your hands just hearing it!"

"Don't say the M word!" Kerry screeched suddenly, hands clamped over her heart. Raph swore and leaned away from her.

"You're a fucking banshee!"

"What is it?" Mikey asked.

"No, we shall not speak of it," Alex said. "I'll tell you later when she's not around. That way she doesn't have to get up and scrub her hands raw."

"Is it really that bad?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow watching Kerry as she sang to her self, hands over her ears. Don was trying to calm her down but she was having none of it.

"Leo, hon, trust me on this one," Alex insisted, finishing off her burger.

"Is it Mikey?" Raph asked with a chuckled. "Mikey's an M word."

"Hey!" Mikey pouted a bit.

"Mikey's too cute to be scary," Alex said. "He's more of the type to get you to love him to death."

"Hush now baby," Kerry cooed to Mikey stroking his blonde curls. "Don't let the big mean neanderthal bug you."

"Hick," Raph shot back.

"Dick," Kerry said without thinking about it as she comforted the baby brother, much to Don's annoyance.

"See, the ladies love me," Mikey said with a triumphant smile.

"Yes we do," Alex said. "You're our favorite."

"Yes!"

"What!?" Don asked.

"Oh, come on!" Raph complained.

"Seriously?" Leo added.

"What?" Kerry asked. "He's the baby. We have to love him the most."

"It's an unspoken rule of the girl code," Alex joked.

"Fine, to make up for this utter heartbreak," Leo said feining pain in his chest. "Tell us your birthday."

"What? No!" Alex protested.

"Come on, Alex!" Mikey pressed. "It's just your birthday!"

"What's the problem with your birthday anyway?" Raph asked.

"I-I don't like it when people fuss over me," she stated. "It's just a day. Like any other. I survive every day. What's so special about that one date?"

"It's a day where we can celebrate knowing you. Without you I have no idea where I'd be," Kerry murmured looking down at the table sadly. Mikey pulled her closer and they hunched together, discussing something seriously before they looked up.

"Alex," Kerry stated before her lip jutted out and her green eyes filled with tears. "Please?" she asked in a whimper.

"Yeah, Alex," Mikey said and had an even more pitiful look on his face, emphasized by his angel looks.

"Think of it more for us than for you," Raph said. "You like making people happy? Tell us what it is."

_Oh, he has a point there,_ Alex thought_. But why does he have to have a point? It's not fair! I don't like my birthday!_ Alex sighed, shoulders slumped. _I was two weeks short of getting away without them knowing! Uh!_ "October 17," Alex stated.

"That's right before ours!" Mikey said excitedly.

Alex groaned into her drink, annoyed that they got it out of her. _Mean friends,_ she thought.

"Alexandra" Kerry snapped. "How could you not tell me! There is so much to be done," she murmured. "Now I have to plan for two surprises!"

"Two?" Leo asked.

"Yes something for you guys as well!" Kerry nodded causing the boys to look at her in shock. "What? I have to do this! It's my duty as a friend!"

"No!" Alex yelled. "You will do no such thing!"

"Woman, I do what I want!" Kerry said throwing her hands in the air.

"Kerry, I'm begging you here. I don't like birthdays. I never have. I don't want anything done."

"It won't be anything big," Kerry said. "But you and the guys are going to get something!"

"It's bad enough Freddy always makes me go out to dinner on my birthday! Even my family doesn't do that!" Alex complained.

"B-But," Kerry's eyes went puppy dog mode again. "I don't get to celebrate birthdays often."

_Gah she's pulling that card again! No! So not fair!_ "Kerry, please. For my birthday present, don't do anything! That's all I want."

"What if I do something for all of you at once? You know, do a group thing?" Kerry asked, looking around the table.

"Right! That's brilliant, Kerry! Then it won't just be you," Don said. "You don't have to think of it as your party. Think of it as ours!"

Kerry blushed when Don called her idea brilliant. "Thanks Donnie." she smiled a bit, unable to resist touching his hand briefly. "And it will be fun to do something in a group!

"Like go bowling!" Mikey said. "I've never been bowling before."

"Really?" Alex asked. "You've never gone bowling?"

"See!" Kerry said. "We must take them bowling!" She grinned in triumph.

Alex was more distracted about the fact that they had never been bowling than the fact that it was supposed to be for their birthdays now. "Oh, you guys would love bowling! It's so much fun!"

"Uh, yeah," Don smiled. "Yeah, let's all go bowling then!" he said looking to his brothers.

"Heck yes!" Mikey said.

"I'm all for it if Master Splinter is," Leo smiled.

"I'm game. Probably going to kick all of your asses." Raph smirked.

"Oh, you're on, Raphie," Alex said. "You're going down. I bowl a 220!"

"It's a date!" Kerry said in conclusion.

"Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong!" Alex exclaimed. It was then that she noticed that time. "Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "I have to go. I'm supposed to talk to my brother tonight."

"Don't your brothers live at home?" Kerry asked.

"Yeah, but Elliot's studying in Japan," Alex said, paying for her bill. "So I've gotta go before it gets too late to talk."

Without waiting for Raph to get out of the booth, Alex moved over him, brushing up against him, making him blush and look away in embarrassment. "Night guys!" she called out to them.

"Bitch, you ditching me again?!" Kerry yelled out after her.

"Yup!" she yelled. "I'll see you at school tomorrow! You guys too! I'll see you during tutoring!"

With that, Alex left completely forgetting her agreement about not going out alone. She was fine though. It was only a couple blocks from her house. Alex called her brother on her way home, telling him all about how excited she was to go bowling for her and her friends birthday, which was a first.


	11. Fakeout

Chapter 11

Fake Out

That whole week, Alex and Kerry were busy discussing their plans for the birthday bowling party. Fred wasn't too pleased when he heard that Kerry had talked Alex into doing it with the other guys Alex was friends with, but at least he was invited and would get to spend time with Alex.

The week wasn't as smooth as that though. Just like Amanda had said the Friday before, she did see Alex on Monday. Alex had gone to the bathroom to change for PE and ran into the busty blonde, which got the blonde harassing the redhead again to the girl's dismay. It continued throughout the week as well. Amanda was careful to only do it when she caught Alex on her own, which thankfully wasn't that often, but enough to the point where Alex was getting rather upset about the whole thing.

She had made it through three days of the harassment before it started to bug her, having repeated to herself what Raph had told her. That Amanda did it to bug her. That Alex was better company. But that didn't mean that when Amanda mentioned her looks again, that Alex didn't get self conscious about it. Raph never did tell her that Amanda had been lying about that part, so that made her believe that her friends really did just tell her that to make her feel better.

And that was what Alex was dreading as she waited for one of the guys to pick her up at school. Amanda had already singled her out on Monday afternoon, as well as Wednesday. Why would Friday be any different? She had just been thankful that Mike and Don hadn't heard what Amanda had been saying to her, or that she hadn't gotten to far into her mean remarks when they finally did arrive.

"God, what are you?" Amanda started out with. "A hooker? I always see you on the corner."

Alex's head shot up. She had been kneeling down on the ground, tying her shoe when Amanda had walked up to her. The girl slowly stood up, leaving her backpack on the ground next to her as she looked away from the blonde. "I'm not a hooker," she stated firmly, though it sounded better than she actually felt.

"You sure about that?" Amanda asked. "Cause that's the only way you can get any action."

_Don't listen to her. Don't listen to her. Don't listen to her,_ Alex repeated to herself in her head. Closing her eyes as she leaned back against the fence. _She's just a bully. That's all she is. A whore and a bully. _

"Oh, hit a nerve," Amanda said. "I can tell. Guess that means I'm right."

Alex opened her eyes and glared. "No," she said. "You're wrong."

"I don't think so," Amanda said. "And I haven't seen that yummy man you had with you last week. You scared him away, didn't you? I knew he couldn't have been your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Alex told her, looking away. _Damn, why did I just say that? Now I'm going to get it. _

"Oh, I _knew _I was right!" Amanda cackled, "That's so pathetic!"

_Pathetic? _Alex looked down at her feet. _It's not pathetic. He's my friend. How is that pathetic? That I can't get my really cute friend to like me? Or that I might want him to? Oh, God, that _is _pathetic. _

"You have to pretend to have a boyfriend. Poor guy getting roped into that, being lumped with you." she snickered.

"We never pretended," Alex said. "You just assumed."

"You never denied it," she smirked.

"You never came right out and said it," Alex retorted. "Raph's a good guy. I wouldn't force him to do anything."

"More like couldn't persuade him," Amanda pressed. "I know you'd try to. I mean, look at the guy. He's a god! You couldn't handle a man like him."

"A guy that knows better than to deal with girls like you," Alex shot back. "You're not worth his time."

"Oh I think I can convince him otherwise," Amanda assured her. "Like I do with everyone else."

"That's _dirty _and _shallow _and _completely _unfair to Arthur!" Alex snapped.

"How? I'm with him publicly. He still gets what he wants," Amanda said. "What's the harm? We're both happy this way."

"He's happy because he thinks you're _faithful_," Alex said. "But you're just a filthy wh-" Alex backed up, dodging the slap Amanda shot at her. It was going to take a lot more than that to get the girl. She was a trained ninja, after all.

"What were you about to call me?" Amanda demanded. "A whore?" The girl scoffed, pulling her hand back out of Alex's grasp. "I'm not the one hanging off of every guy that hangs out with me, practically begging for them to love me. I can get that all on my own."

"I feel bad for the guy roped into that," Raph said finally making himself known as he walked casually around the corner. He had gotten there just around the time the two girls started talking. He had been ready to intervene again, but stayed back when he heard Alex start to defend herself, much like he had suggested she do.

Alex sighed, a little thankful to see Raph, but also embarrassed that he had obviously heard part of their conversation. "Hey," she greeted shyly, a blush on her face. "You get roped into picking me up again?" she asked, a little depressed knowing that that was most likely the case.

"Nah, I chose to do it," Raph said huffing a bit. "Don't act all surprised. I told you I like your company, alright?"

"I thought you just said that to make me feel better," she whispered to him so that Amanda didn't hear.

"Hey! Listen here. When I say something like that I mean it!" Raph hissed at her. "Do you think I'm some sort of lier!?"

Alex bit her lip, shaking her head slightly. "No, a tease, but not a liar," she answered honestly.

"Teasing about things as serious as that? No," he growled, before turning to the bitch. "Shove off, okay? Don't you have some alley to meet your next hook up in?"

"I'd be happy to meet you there," Amanda flirted.

"Sorry, I don't feel like getting an STD, especially when I have a clean girlfriend right here," Raph said an arm going around Alex.

Alex's stomach dropped, though much differently than when there was danger around. Her face grew hot, being pulled so close to Raph, his arm secured around her so tightly that if she tried to move away she wouldn't have been able to. "_What_?" Alex gasped to the redheaded boy, face getting even warmer when she realized how close her face was to him to to the embrace..

"What?" Amanda screamed.

"You. Have. STDs," Raph said slowly. "And apparently they've gone to your head already."

"First of all, I don't have STDs," Amanda said. "And secondly, you're dating _that_?"

"First," he mocked her, "_pretty sure_ you do. And secondly, yes, I'm dating _her._"

"Since when? Why didn't she admit it then?" Amanda asked, fixing for the lie.

"She's not the type to announce relationships like that," Raph stated. "She didn't even want to tell me when her birthday was."

"So what?" Amanda said. "She never tells anybody that anyways. Not even when we were friends." She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning her weight to one side. "So I don't believe you."

"So wouldn't you think she would want something like a boyfriend being known?" Raph asked. "You really are annoying," Raph grumbled a bit to the girl.

"Prove it," Amanda pressed, daring them to show her in some way that they were actually dating.

Raph didn't even blink as he sighed a bit and leaned down to Alex's level, without hesitating as he gave her a soft kiss to the lips, arm still over her shoulder. Alex's eyes went wide, her stomach flipping and growing even warmer. Her eyes fluttered closed, enjoying her first kiss, leaning into it, kissing him back. Even if it wasn't actually with a real boyfriend, Alex was going to enjoy the kiss. She's never get her first kiss back, after all and Raph was a good kisser...

Raph soon pulled away and looked at Amanda. "Gonna leave anytime soon, Bitch? You're ruining the moment with your face."

He moved in for another kiss, just trying to prove the point further that they were occupied and into something, something Amanda had no business being in. However, this time Raph moved his hands down to Alex's waist, pulling her in closer. Alex, playing along (as well as secretly really wanting to have another kiss), wrapped her arms around his neck, on of her hands making it's way into his messy hair. Hey, if they were going to go that far to make the blonde believe them, she was going to enjoy it. Plus, Raph's hair always did look so soft...

Amanda growled and turned on her heel, stomping away.

Raph looked up and laughed slightly. "God did you see her face! It was all purple and splotchy!"

_No, I was a little busy kissing you, _Alex thought, slightly in a daze. She shook her head slightly, trying to regain some of her composure. "Uh, yeah," she lied. "T-Thanks."

"No problem. Sorry if I did something you're uncomfortable with. I always act on instinct, you know?" he said with no care in the world as he pulled away.

_Some damn good instinct,_ she thought. Alex wanted to sigh at the loss of contact, but unwound herself from him anyways. She crossed her arms and pushed some of her hair behind her ear, a deep blush on her face from the kiss, but as well as the fact that she had really enjoyed the kiss and knew that Raph has just done it to help her, not because he wanted to.

"Got her off your back though," he added.

"Y-Yeah," Alex said. "But now you're stuck pretending to be my boyfriend. I'm sorry. You can "_break up"_ with me whenever. I'm sure that little show is enough to get her off my back for a while anyways."

"No big deal." Raph shrugged. "I mean, it's not like you see this girl too often, right? And I'm homeschooled so I don't have to pretend during school. So just if we're ever in a place she'd be we act all couply. Doesn't bug me," he explained with a lazy, nonchalant shrug.

"I meant what I said when I said I wasn't going to force you into anything," Alex said. "Really, Raph, you don't have to do this. You've already helped me so much." _And that kiss…!_

"Hey! I said I'm fine with it!" Raph growled. "Why do you have to argue with everything I say, woman?"

"And being with a Butch like me won't hurt your rep?" Alex asked, looking away with her arms still secured around herself.

"Real guys with rep don't care about the rep," he scoffed. "That's for posers. 'Sides, you're not that bad looking. You got the whole model thing going for ya or whatever."

Alex's face reddened. Her stomach feeling as if it were on fire. What the hell was he doing to her? He was pretending to be her boyfriend. He wasn't _actually _her boyfriend! Why was she getting all flustered like that? None of it was real!

Alex looked down at the ground. He had said he never joked about things like that, so he meant it? But then why didn't that make her feel any better? Raph had just admitted he thought she was pretty, but that didn't mean he actually _liked _her. And she didn't like him.

He was nice and all, but he was hot headed and rude and sweet when he wanted to be. He was arrogant and mouthy and oh, that mouth of his felt so good against her. But none of that meant anything! He was just helping a friend out! He didn't actually _want _to kiss her. He didn't have any _romantic feelings_ for her. She _knew _that.

So why did it hurt her chest so much to know that?

The girl sighed. He did put himself out there for her though. He went out of his way to go and get her, and then to stick up for her. And she now knew the reasoning behind that wasn't just because he'd get in trouble with his brothers if he didn't. Raph actually approved of Alex. He was bring a good friend, going so far as to kiss a girl he had no romantic feelings with to protect her. The deserved some sort of thanks, right?

But what could she possibly give him? The guy most likely wouldn't let her buy him good for his troubles. Or take cash or a gift. What could she give? Last time she had kissed him on the cheek for his aid, but what he had done this time was so much bigger. What was worth that?

"Raph?" Alex asked, looking down at the male redhead's shoes.

"What is it now?" Raph asked, looking down at the girl, face slightly red. Alex didn't know why though, either from anger at her for acting that way or something unknown, but she tried not to let it bother her.

Alex bit her lip before looking up at Raph, a small smile on her lips, trying to push down the feelings she had just been having. She took a small step forward, seeing as they were still rather close together and stood up on her toes. He looked at her with wide eyes, much like he had when she had kissed him on the cheek as a thank you before, however, he was extremely shocked when her soft lips met his own, a small hand resting gently on his cheek.

The girl pulled back a couple seconds later, though again, she didn't really want to pull away from Raph. When as he stood here still and shocked, unable to kiss her back, it was still so much better than she would have imagined it being. She was incredibly inexperienced when it came to kissing, and for all she knew, Raph could very well have been the best in the world or just as inexperienced as her, but she had really enjoyed it, nonetheless.

"W-What the heck was that?" Raph asked her, red brows furrowing.

"Thank you," Alex told him, forcing herself to stare into his green eyes. "I, uh, really appreciate this." She fidgeted slightly, moving some red hair behind her ear nervously. "Y-You didn't have to do it. You could've just left it alone, but you didn't and that means a lot to me, Raph. So thank you."

"Oh, well," Raph grumbled. "I guess it's no big deal." He shrugged a bit. "Now lets go, numbnuts has a lot of work cut out for him."

Alex nodded and picked up her backpack off the ground, slinging it over her shoulders. However, due to how much was in it, she almost tipped herself over from how quickly she put it on. "I know, you guys have a test on Monday, don't you?" Alex asked, adjusting her backpack over her shoulders.

"Yup," Raph said.

"I think Mikey will do fine," she thought. "He's been getting a lot better."

"No thanks to you," Raph teased, bumping her slightly with his shoulder as they walked side by side.

"Hey," she protested, bumping him back. "What about you? Do _you _think you'll do okay?"

Raph shrugged. "I get by," he said. "Chemistry's not really my thing, but I can do it."

Alex stretched out her back, placing her hands on the straps of her backpack to try and lift some of the weight off of her back a little. "Chemistry isn't my favorite," Alex admitted. "I like English and history."

"I like English too," he said.

"You like to read?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, something wrong with that?" he asked defensively.

Alex shook her head. "No, not at all. I just didn't know you liked to read. Do you think he'll study at all this weekend?" Alex asked.

Raph scoffed. "I doubt it," he admitted honestly. "We've go a competition this weekend."

"Really?" Alex asked. Well, maybe I'll just happen to see you guys there. "I've got a lot going on too," she admitted. "At least I don't have to work on Sunday. I've got so much freakin' homework to get through."

"How much homework?" he asked.

"Math, science, history, english, health," she started listing, dreading just _thinking _about the subjects.

"How many classes do you take?" he asked, eyeing the girl and her large backpack.

"Well, there are nine periods in a school day. One of which is lunch. So eight classes." she informed him.

Raph slid his hand into the little handle on top of her backpack and lifted it off her back slightly, testing the weight, before he used his other one to remove one of the straps off her shoulder. He pulled the backpack off of her completely, slinging it over one of his shoulders.

"Dude, my bag!" she protesting, trying to take it back from him.

"It's too heavy for you to carry on your back," he told her. "You'll get back problems."

"And you won't?" she retorted.

"Nope," he said.

"Is that so?" Alex moved to try and take her bag back, but Raph moved it to the other shoulder, the one further away from her.

"Yes it is."

"You're a pain in the ass," she told him.

"But I'm your pain in the ass fake boyfriend."

Alex raised an eyebrow. That was something she hadn't expected him to say. Did he really think it wasn't that big of a deal for them to pretend to be in a relationship? Sure, Alex had agreed to it, but that didn't mean there weren't a couple things she was uncomfortable with. She'd be lying to people, which she didn't like to do. If it came down to it, she may have to kiss him again, and though she really enjoyed kissing him, that didn't mean that she really liked the fact that she was kissing someone she wasn't really in a relationship with.

"What kind of comeback is that?"

"A good one."

"No," Alex scoffed.

"Yes," Raph pushed.

"No way."

"Yes way."

Alex rolled her eyes at their childish conversation. "Suck it," Alex told him.

"No, that's your job," Raph told her, face red with a smirk playing on his lips.

"_Fake_ job," she pressed. Then she really thought about it. "How do you even do a _fake _blow job?"

"How the hell would I know?" Raph asked, eyes wide at the sudden question from the girl beside him.

"You'd be the one getting them," Alex said with a shrug, her hair falling off her shoulder in doing so. Her face was almost as red as her hair at their topic, but she wasn't unbelievably uncomfortable with it. It was easy to talk to Raph, despite all of the banter, teasing, slight anger problems and weird conversation topics. "Or not getting them?"

"And you'd be the one giving it," Raph retorted.

Alex shrugged, seeing his point. "Noted," she said. "But I don't think it's possible to do a fake one, do you?"

"Why are we even talking about this?" he asked, shifting Alex's backpack a little.

"I don't know. You're easy to talk to and it's what came up," Alex admitted. "I'm just making conversation."

"You are so weird, Firecracker," Raph told her with a laugh.

"I'm glad you find me amusing, Raphie," Alex shot back.

"I don't know how to read you," he told her. "The second I think I've got you figured out, you turn around and throw somethin' new at me."

"Maybe you're not supposed to figure me out," Alex told him as they headed up the stairs of the Hamato residence. "Maybe you're just supposed to enjoy."


	12. Round 1

Chapter 12

Round 1

"Do we really have to wear these?" Marcus asked, complaining as they all walked into the large arena for their competition.

"Yes," Alex told her brother. "You ask that during every competition."

The Uniforms provided by Alex's family's dojo were tight black spandex suits with the green dojo's symbol over the left side of the chest along with what would best be described as a mix between a fencing mask and, to take a page out of Mikey's book, a Spiderman mask, that covered every inch of their face. Even Alex's long red hair was pulled back and up inside the mask. The reasoning for this was because her parents liked to stick to the traditional "Ninja are everywhere" and the whole "We're just shadows" kind of thing.

"But they're so _tight_," Zack, the youngest brother said, pulling at the skin tight suit. "They're no room to breathe!"

"You two complain too much," Nathan said, walking away from the group to head to the bathrooms.

"You can't complain." Kerry grumbled as she itched at her mask, having met the others outside the competition venue. "Its more awkward for me and Alex!"

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "The uniforms are supposed to help us blend in, but they just draw attention to use because we're girls."

"Yeah, but they're so tight around my b-" Marcus started to say.

"Don't finish that sentence," Alex said

"I don't want to know, I don't want to know-" Kerry kept repeating.

Marcus just rolled his eyes and pulled Zack away with him over to the locker rooms. Generally Alex and her dojo didn't use them, seeing as it was required for them to show up fully in uniform, but her brothers liked to hang out in the locker room to talk to people.

Alex, on the other hand, had been handed down her oldest brother's job, Elliot, of taking attendance and keeping record of how each and every students match went. Except for her own, of course. Kerry took care of that for her. It was a lot of work, but it helped the two girls observe the opponents, getting insight that many other people didn't.

The two girl's headed over to the registration area and Alex handed over all of the paperwork that had been filled out ahead of time to make the whole process easier. After doing so, Alex and Kerry walked over to the bleachers and took a seat. Their students knew that was where they would be, so every could of minutes there would be several people going up to them and telling them their names (seeing as they were wearing masks and Alex couldn't tell each and every one of them just by their voice alone).

"So, you excited?" Alex asked Kerry.

"For what? Having to fight to make sure no limbs are broken?" Kerry asked nodding over to some Foot students.

"No," Alex told her, rolling her eyes. "The guys should be here too. Not that they'll know who we are, but we'll get to see them fight."

"What? They guys study ninjutsu?" Kerry asked, "I didn't know that actually."

"Yeah, Raph said they had a competition, so I looked it up," she told the black haired girl. "And this is the only one going on in town."

"Wow, I wonder what weapons they specialize in." Kerry murmured. "Now I really am excited!"

Alex bit her lip, shifting a little uncomfortably on the hard bleachers. Now that her and Kerry were alone, Alex knew she should tell her what happened the day before, with the whole Amanda and Raph stuff. She had managed to avoid talking about h bullying for a while, but now that the whole "Fake Boyfriend" thing was out there, she couldn't really keep it from her.

"So, uh, I've gotta tell you something, Kerr."

"Uh, yeah you know I'm all ears." Kerry said taking her eyes off the center ring to look to her. "What's up, Sugar Cube?"

"So, I, uh, haven't told you this," Alex started to say. "But Amanda's been kind of coming at me lately."

Kerry was quiet for a little bit. "Coming at you? In what way?" Kerry asked, and shockingly sounded calm about it. What the heck, normally she'd freak out and threaten to beat the girl into submission before turning the ager to Alex for not saying anything sooner.

"Well, like how I look and that I've never had a boyfriend," Alex admitted, checking off another student on her list.

"Have you," Kerry murmured, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees and lace her fingers together, "done anything about it?" she asked softly.

"W-Well, at first, no," Alex said. "But then Raph kind of found out and pushed me to stuck up to her."

"Good," Kerry said, something close to relief in her tone. "That's good. Don't let her shove you around Lexi, it's what she wants."

"She didn't stop," Alex told her.

Kerry went quiet before looking away again. "Have you done something now? To stop her? Told anyone?"

"No," Alex said slowly. "It's kind of complicated. You see, yesterday she came at me after school and so I was talking back to her. But then she kept going and one thing led to another and…"

"She didn't do anything, did she? You know, bad?" Kerry asked in a rush.

"Well, she tried to hit me, but you know how I am. She didn't get close," Alex said. "But that's not really what I'm talking about. You see, to help stop it all, Raph kind of said he was my boyfriend."

"Okay, what now?" Kerry asked after a moment of shocked silence before she realized what Alex had actually said. "Wait, who did what?!"

"He said he was my boyfriend to get her to stop and she said prove it so he kissed me," Alex said. "Now we're kind of stuck in the fake dating thing."

"Wow...just wow, Sugar Cube," Kerry said but this time she was laughing. "The things you get into when I'm not there."

"Hey, it wasn't _my _idea!" Alex told her.

"Oh, am I detecting some attraction there?" Kerry giggled at her.

"What? No!" Alex protested. "Raph's annoying!"

"Mhmmm," Kerry hummed thoughtfully. "Sure," She shrugged.

"Okay, so maybe Raph's hot, and those kisses were to die for, but there is no way that we'd work," Alex said. "We'd kill each other!"

"Hmmm, I don't know. It might just come out as really hot make out sessions," she teased.

"Kerry!" Alex said, hitting her with the clipboard. "There is no way that's ever going to happen!"

"GAH! Abuse! Abuse!" Kerry yelled.

"Shut up, people are staring!"

"What ever you say, you owe me lunch if it does."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Fine, you've got yourself a deal," she said. "I think we've got everybody. You wanna start stretching for our matches?"

"Yeah, I need my full range to dodge the big guys." She grumbled a bit, obviously she shortest out of their groups age range.

The two girls walked over to the warm up mats and plopped themselves down on the ground, stretching out their legs first.

"You know what I really hate about this?" Alex asked the girl.

"No, what?" Kerry asked and she stretched her arms upward.

"How every one of these guys just so happens to have to stare at us when we do this," Alex said. "I'd be far more embarrassed if I didn't have the mask on though."

"I know. I mean I'm wearing two, _two_ sports bras and I still feel really you know, _out there."_

"Even I look like I have something there," Alex said with a laugh. "I can't imagine being _you_."

"It is hard being me." Kerry said in a jokingly dramatic voice. "But you have a great legs, that's what guys stare at with you."

Alex laughed. "Hey, you're up first, by the way," she told her. "Why don't you head over? I've got to go get some of the other kids set up."

Kerry groaned a bit as she stood and stretched. "Here we go," she said. "See you after I win," she said jokingly as she made her way over.

Kerry grumbled a bit a she adjusted the mask over her head, she swore they were the most uncomfortable things in the world. Not to mention the skin tight black uniform to match, and the dojo symbol on her chest that just screamed 'Look! I'm a Female! Stare in awe!'. Seriously though, her annoyance with the uniform only fueled her frustrations in a fight. She'd take them and channel them into her hits and kicks to get more out of the them. She took a calming breath before she stepped out and headed to the center ring. Polite clapping was heard as she and her opponent approached, through a few catcalls could be heard(she might have heard Marcus yell 'You got this baby!' before yelling in pain due to Alex most likely hitting him). She groaned as she saw a Foot member approach from the other end. Like most of them they were bigger than her by quite a bit.

Kerry sighed as she stood across from her opponent and bowed respectfully, only to hear the guy snicker as he did so too, obviously not worried due to her size.

The ref stood between then, hand poised in the air signaling for a pause and his need for their attention.

"Knock out prohibited, point system via hits, pins are accepted as knockouts," he said then threw his hand down. "_Begin_."

Kerry had to almost instantly flip back to avoid a rather painful swipe with a sword to the gut. She clutched her claws tightly in her hands as she lowered into a crouch, eyeing the man's next move. He wung at her again, downward towards her head and she rolled to the side, taking a swipe at his leg. He dodged and brought his arm down to catch her in the side. She grunted a bit, knowing he got the first point, and a 3 pointer in fact. She gasped for air as she rolled to the side to miss his foot to her back.

"Okay, you are really pissing me off," Kerry growled to herself as she got to her feet.

"What's wrong girly? Realizing this isn't the place for you?" the man mocked her and Kerry scoffed.

"I think it's time you learned your place," Kerry said and ran at him, The guy swung at her, only to have her spring over him and grabbed his shoulders as she soar over his head. She turn her self so her feet planted hard into his back, sending him sprawling.

"You little bitch!" the man grunted, hoping up quickly to take a kick at her only for her to dodge again. Kerry was known for being more acrobatic, often teasing her opponent by flipping around them, making them be the ones to lose their tempers. It was quite funny seeing the larger man chase her around the ring as she baited him.

Finally sliding between his legs, she hit the back of his knees with her elbows, causing him to fall to them. She spun up quickly and kicked out, her shin connecting with his head.

"Match!" The ref yelled as Kerry pinned the man. "Match to The Guardian School of Martial Arts."

Kerry stood and bowed to her opponent who reluctant did so, holding back his anger. Kerry learned she needed to get off the mat as soon as possible with these guys or risk a bloody nose, from an 'accident'.

Alex met Kerry once she got out of the arena, clipboard in hand. She high fived the girl, praising her for her win. "Nice job," she told her. "Except you're three points lower than you average."

"Sorry, I was trying to avoid a head injury, and the guy was good at guarding his openings." She panted.

Alex laughed. "I'm not telling you because of that. I'm just letting you know. Now, here," she said, handing over the clipboard. "I'm up."

"Right! Better watch yourself, I'm eyeing you like a hawk!" Kerry teased her and took her friend's place.

Alex rolled her eyes, passing a couple other competitors as she made her way to her area, he eyes catching a very red head. She turned her head, stretching to see if she had just seen Raph or not, but by then they were gone and Alex had to get to her mat before they declared her match a forfeit.

The girl made it to the mat, taking up her wooden sword. She waited patiently as one of the Foot Institut guy's walked out with a sword just like her. He had it hanging over his shoulder, leaning his weight on one leg more than the other lazily, not taking the match seriously, which really ticked Alex off, to be honest.

"Knock out prohibited, point system via hits, pins are accepted as knockouts," a new ref said, standing in the middle of the mat. "_Begin_."

Alex had her sword in hand, both hands at h base as she slowly stepped to the side, making her opponent sidestep as well. The girl turned her head, watching his foot. _He's sloppy, _Alex thought. I can use that to my advantage.

The Foot punched, aiming his sword for hr head, but Alex bent hr elbow, meeting his sword with hers, blocking it over her right shoulder. She quickly moved, kicking his ankle out from under him, gaining her a point. She rolled before she had the chance to strike him in the chest, but she could tell she was getting somewhere.

She was making him nervous. That was perfect. She could use that to her advantage. It was good to be a little nervous, but this guys was so nervous that he was anxious, and anxious only lead to mistakes, Alex found.

The guy lunged, missing the girl as she sidestepped by a fraction of an inch. Someone's an eager beaver, she thought. Alex smirked. Since he had tried to attack so close, Alex was able to grab his write, twisting it so that the sword dropped out of his hand. She caught it with her foot and sent it back into the air, grabbing it with her other hand.

By that point, the guy had already moved back, but now he was weaponless and running out of time to get any points. The girl moved quickly, much like how Kerry moved. Both girl's were more acrobatic fighters, not having as much physical strength as some of the men there. But they were flexible and quick, which usually always played in their favor.

She swiped left with the sword, but the guy dodged, anticipating another swing from his own sword, but instead he was met with a foot to the chest, kicking him to the ground. Alex moved, putting both swords to the Foot's neck, trapping him. She knelt down, pinning him and waited for the ref to call the match.

"Match!" The ref yelled. "Match to The Guardian School of Martial Arts."

Alex got up and handed him the sword. She offered a hand up and he took it. "Nice try," she told him softly. "Just try and keep your cool."

"I don't need you to tell me what to do," he spat at her.

_And that's what I get for trying to help,_ the girl thought. She turned away and headed off the floor, back to where Kerry was.

"Hey you did great," Kerry said shaking the clipboard at her. "But like me, you were below average on points. that could be because it was a short match."

"You know me," Alex said. "I'm more of the be kind and end it clean and quickly type of fighters."

Kerry chuckled and handed the clipboard back to her. "I was taught you strike first or you might not get the chance to strike at all."

"No, that's a valid point," Alex said, nodding her head. "You wanna help me keep score for a while. We've got some time before our next matches."

"Yeah, better than nothing," she said shrugging.

"Oh, so I'm only better than nothing?" Alex asked jokingly.

"Right above watching paint dry." Kerry said sitting down next to her.

"That makes me feel wonderful, Kerry," Alex said. "Thank you."

"It's not my job to make you feel good," Kerry smirked. "That's Raph's. He is your fake boyfriend, after all."

Alex had no reply for that. What could she say? If she said anything about Raph, Kerry would most likely turn it back around on her somehow. And Alex didn't need to be more flustered than she was.  
"Let's see who's next," Alex said, glancing down at her clipboard. "Oh…"

"What is it?" Kerry asked looking over at her. "Something wrong?"

"It's Marcus and Don," Alex informed her. "This'll be interesting."

Kerry seemed to free and Alex could just imagine the blush forming on her face. "Oh w-w-wow. Really?" She cleared her throat trying not to sound interested. "That is interesting."

The two girls sat down just in time to see the two bow before one another on the center of the mat. Alex leaned forward, focusing on the match. She was curious to who would win. Marcus was one of the strongest at their dojo. She had no idea how Donatello was. Alex glanced at Kerry to see what she was doing. Kerry's eyes analyzed Donatello's stand and his grip on his bow staff, though her eyes would drift shamelessly.

"He's got good balance it seems, especially if using a bo staff. That means he'll have reach," Kerry commented. She watched as the two boys circled one another.

"Yeah, and seeing as Marcus like close range with his twin tantos, it'll be interesting to see who ends up winning," she said.

Marcus was the first to attack, lunging forward with his wooden tantos at the ready. He moved quick and low, aiming for Don's waist, but Don swiftfully moved to the side, using the staff to clock one of the tantos. He then spun his staff around to knock his arms back and give him a bit more room to maneuver his blows.

Marcus was forced to back up, which Alex could tell wasn't to his liking. Normally, Marcus would have had at least five points by now. He didn't have any yet and the clock was ticking. Don was to the advantage with his reach, but how much longer could he keep that us with Marcus's speed?

Marcus ran forward again, needing to get closer for a hit, barely able to duck down under a wide swing of Donatello's staff. He brought the staffs up towards his chest and Don didn't have enough time to block, taking a critical blow. Kerry seemed to sense and shift to the edge of her seat.

"That's the problem with staffs," Kerry murmured mostly to herself, "once someone gets past your defenses it's harder to block and counter."

"Yup, and you know how Marcus is," Alex said. "He likes to get in there. Deep."

"...is that an innuendo?"

"Oh my God," Alex said, gagging. "That's disgusting! He's my brother! Oh _ew_!"

"You said it, not me!" Kerry scoffed as she watched Don shove Marcus back, trying to gain back ground. "Trust me, no interest in how deep your brother goes here. Despite his wish I thought otherwise."

"You and Marcus," Alex muttered, shaking her head. "_Yuck_."

"Not to say your brother isn't handsome, just not my type." Kerry shrugged a bit biting her lip as Marcus got up close and personal, gaining a high point advantage for a blow to Donatello's head that caused Kerry to stand up rather quickly and impulsively.

"There's only thirty seconds left," Alex informed her, looking down at her stopwatch on the clipboard. "Don's gotta hurry up if he's going to win."

"Come on Donnie!" Kerry just barely kept her self from yelling out.

"Kerry!" Alex told her, pulling her arm to seat her. "Calm down!"

"I am calm," Kerry murmured watching as the buzzer was finally blown in time running out. "Dang nab it!" she swore.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Well, that's that." She wrote down Marcus's score and stood up. "It was a good match though. Don's much better than I thought he'd be."

"He was fantastic!" Kerry said almost defensively. "Good defense and a sound offensive strike," she murmured. "We'd be good back to back."

"Or front to front…" Alex muttered with a smirk, checking to see what was next on her board.

"Okay that one was on purpose!" Kerry said pointing a finger at her.

"Very good, Kerry!" Alex joked.

"Oh blow me," she grumbled at her friend.

"Can't," Alex said. Then she remembered her conversation with Raphael the day before. She was thankful she was wearing a mask, otherwise she would have been visibly as red as her hair.

"I'll find a way for it to happen." Kerry grumbled. "Gotta keep you quiet some how."

"Yeah, not gonna happen," Alex said. "Plus, I'm not your bitch."

"You are _so_ my bitch," Kerry scoffed. "I'm older and do you not see my boobs?"

"Do you not see these legs?" Alex shot back, remember the conversation she had with Kerry while they were stretching.

"Boobs are better," Marcus said as he came up the steps and sat next to them.

"Maybe Don's a boob guy," Alex thought, scootching over.

"Who's Don?" Marcus asked.

Kerry only sat there stuttering and shifting. He face must be so red right now thinking of it.

"The guy you were going against," Alex told him. "He's a friend."

"_Friend_," Kerry emphasized. "Is it hot in here? I think it's hot in here," she said in an odd tone.

"No, it's just you, Baby," Marcus said.

Alex smacked him with the clipboard. "No, it really is warm in here," Alex said. "You wanna go outside for a minute? Get some air?"

"Yes!" Kerry said hopping up quickly, just about tripping over herself.

"Cover for me for a couple minutes," Alex told her brother, giving him the clipboard.

"But I wanna go!" Marcus complained.

"Stay," Kerry murmured pointing her finger at the bench.

Marcus pouted, watching the two girls go as he remained sitting there.


	13. Round 2

Chapter 13  
Round 2

"Oh, this is so much better," Alex sighed, leaning against the side of the building in the alley.

"It'd be way better if we could take off these ridiculous outfits," Kerry murmured lifting the edge of her mask to get a drink.

"I believe in almost everything my parents teach, but this is one thing I don't agree with," Alex said, agreeing with Kerry. "It's dumb. I'm jealous that Elliot doesn't have to wear it anymore."

"That's right. He's a master now, isn't he?" Kerry asked softly.

"Yeah, that's why he's in Japan," Alex told her. "He's working with some of the best over there."

Alex's stomach dropped. She sat up, looking down the alley to see the emergency exit door open, one of her people stumbling to the ground with two Foot Institute guys following. They laughed, kicking the much smaller boy in the stomach.

"Hey!" Alex yelled, sprinting down the alley, Kerry right beside her.

"Cut it out!" Kerry growled, just about ready to skin someone alive for messing with one of her 'cubs.'

Alex, despite the mask, recognised the small boy. He was one of the smallest they had at the dojo and he wasn't the strongest whatsoever. But he was the sweetest thing and he had so much passion. She knelt down next to him, looking him over to make sure he was okay. Nothing was bleeding and he didn't seem to have anything broken.

"You okay, Jason?" Alex asked the boy, helping him to his feet.

"Y-Yes Senpai," he told her. Kerry stood above them, blocking the two foot fighters from advancing closer.

"What the hell, you sickos!" she hissed at them, venom in her voice.

"You know fighting outside of the ring is against the rules," Alex pressed, moving in front of Jason to stand next to Kerry. "Explain yourselves."

"We don't need to tell you nothing!" one of the boys said.

"God, even your grammar is horrid," Kerry groaned her body slipping into a fighting stance of her own. No one messed with her babies.

"What did you say?" the other asked.

"Does it really matter?" Alex said. "You're going to turn around and head back in there. _Now_. And you're never going to step out of line like this again. _Ever_. Understand me?"

"We don't listen to the likes of you!"

"Let alone girls!"

"Oh, he didn't just bring the girl card into this, did he?" Alex huffed.

"I think he did." Kerry sighed. "I really think he did."

Alex stepped forward, almost chest to chest with one of the two. "I'll warn you one more time. Turn around now."

Kerry wasn't thinking about talking them down right now, maybe because she knew it wouldn't work. She placed a hand onto Jason's back and gently pushed him towards the door. He looked back at her, clearly worried and feeling guilty for what was happening.

"Go inside," Kerry ordered.

"But-"

"Go," she said again pointing and the boy rushed off.

"We don't have to do this," Alex told them, always the one to try and work things out peacefully.

"But we want too," one guy said.

"You two talk to much!" the other guys said, swinging a punch towards Alex.

Alex sidestepped, using one of her hands to hit his arm, making sure that his follow through was too much, causing him to stumble into the wall behind her. She spun around, ready to face him again should he decide to attack again.

Kerry jumped at the other guy, and he pushed her back into the wall. He grunted and landed a punch to her face, busting her nose. See! Bloody noses when it came to these guys! She growled and grabbed his wrist as he swung again twisting it at a painful angle, forcing him back off her.

She kicked out with her leg and took out his knee. He landed on his back, and from where he was standing he was close enough to kick out one of Alex's ankles, causing her to fall on one knee, groaning from the sudden pain. Alex growled, pushing herself back up on her good foot and jumped up, kicking with her good foot at the other guy, hitting him on the chest before landing back on it.

Kerry had forced her guy to the ground and landed a swift punch to the side of his head, effectively dazing him enough for her to bounce up to her feet before she rushed over and caught Alex before she could fall to the ground.

"I gotcha Sugar Cube," Kerry murmured softly and she balanced her friend onto her good foot.

"Screw this," one of the guys said, getting up and grabbing his friend, pulling him towards the opening of the alley. "This isn't over!"

"Nice movie villain line, asshole!" Kerry yelled. "See you in the sequel," She looked down to her friend.

"Nice line," Alex told her, groaning as she tried to step on her ankle.

"Thanks, you okay?" Kerry asked as she lead her towards the door to lead her inside.

"Should be," Alex said. "But it's definitely sprained."

"Let me have a look at it once get inside," Kerry grunted as she kicked the door open with her foot and eased it further open with her hip, putting her friends arm over her shoulder.

"Thanks," Alex told her as they made their way to the nearest bleacher. She sat down and moved her leg up onto the empty spot next to her.

Kerry sat down and put the foot into her lap. She gently prodded around the area, rotating it this way and that. "It's going to hurt like a bitch, Alex," Kerry murmured, her own voice nasal from her bloody nose. "But it's fine. Strained, but fine."

"Great," Alex sighed. "Just great."

"Hey," Marcus greeted, meeting back up with the two girls. "What's going on?"

"Sprained my ankle," Alex told him, taking the clipboard out of his hands.

"How? You didn't do anything!" Marcus asked.

"Don't ask," Alex pressed. "But could you get me an ice pack? Kerry's gotta head to her next match."

"Uh, sure," Marcus said, running off.

"You ready?" Alex asked the girl.

"Yeah, I'm going to run to the bathroom and clean up the blood before heading to the ring." Kerry said as she stood up. "Wish me luck"

"Good luck," she told her, putting her thumbs up. She watched her go before sighing. _Great, now I'm either going to have to fight with a sprained ankle or forfeit and I'm so not forfeiting. _Marcus got back a couple seconds after that, tossing her an ice pack and a small towel to wrap it in. "Thanks," she told him.

Alex glanced down at the clipboard, looking to see who Kerry was supposed to go against next. She mouth fell open when she saw the name. _Oh boy_, she thought. _Well, this'll be another interesting match, won't it._

Alex spotted Kerry making her way back from the bathroom and onto the mats. Kerry blinked in shock as she saw her opponent smiling at her with his bright smile. Mikey?! No no no! There was no way she could do this! Hit Mikey?

"It's s'okay babe!" Mikey grinned. "I won't go as hard on you as the other guy you fought. Nice moves by the way, maybe after this you can so me some more _flexible _ones."

She was going to hit Mikey.

"How about not," Kerry said as she got into fighting stance, brandishing her shinobi claws.

"Come on, don't be like that." He grinned as he too twirled his nunchucks and stood low to the ground.

"Knock out prohibited, point system via hits, pins are accepted as knockouts," a new ref said, standing in the middle of the mat. "_Begin_."

Kerry lunged at him, bring her arm down towards him which he blocked with his forearm. He sent her back when his nunchuck came at her in his other hand and she batted it away from her with her claws. The two bagan and rather face paced dance, both be agile fighters more dependant on speed rather than strength.

He tried to take out her legs only to her her flip over them, and hit his arm, gaining 2 points. He gained his own points when he flipped her over his shoulder but thankfully she recovered before a pin. She blocked his kick to her head with two crossed arms.

"Your good," he complimented.

"Thanks," Kerry said as she rotated her hands to grab his leg in a hold and try to pin him. "Not too bad your self."

Mikey was able to spin with her pull and slip from her grip he backed up panting. "Thanks," He said as the circled each other "been training since I was a kid, with my bros."

"Same here." Kerry grunted as she lunged again, seeing time starting to run out for a knockout win.

"That explains why we're evenly matched." Mikey smirked at her and she rolled her eyes, blocking his Nunchucks with her claws and twisting her wrists to the chains wrapped around them. She yanked, pulling the weapons from his hands and tossing them way out to the sides. He gaped at her. "No fair!"

Kerry used his indigence to one up him and slide to take out his legs, wrapped hers around one his. This tripped him up and sent him onto the mat, flat onto his stomach. Kerry rolled over and planted a knee in his back claws just above the base of his neck. "All

is fair in love and war."

"Which is this, babe?" Mikey groaned under her causing her to laugh.

"Match!" The ref said. "Win goes to the Guardian School of Martial Arts."

Kerry helped Mikey up, making sure he's okay before giving a bow. When she straightened she held out her hand which he took to shake, grinning at her.

"I think I'm in love," he joked and she laughed again.

"Don't be a masochist," she teased and couldn't resist ruffling his hair familiarly before walking away, leaving him with a confused and thoughtful look on his face. She sat down next to Alex with a sigh.

"Well, that went well," Alex said, writing down her score.

"I feel kinda bad." Kerry murmured. "I mean it was _Mikey_."

"Hey, I wouldn't feel too bad," Alex said. "He seemed fine. Plus, it was a really good fight."

"Yeah, he gave me a run for my money," she said. "You ready for you match? You can forfeit."

"But forfeiting is quitting," Alex whined.

"No, it's knowing when a fight can't be won," Kerry said. "There's a difference"

Alex sighed, not knowing what to do. She hated the thought of forfeiting, but could she really go out there on her ankle?

"Whatcha wanna do?" Kerry asked sitting down.

"Well, I'll never know if I can do it if I don't try," Alex said, removing the ice pack. She handed both the clipboard and ice pack to the black haired girl.

"Yeah, be careful, okay? There's no shame in forfeiting." She said as she took the items from her friend.

"Okay," Alex sighed. "Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it."

"Good Luck...you're going against Raph," Kerry said looking at the clipboard. "...you need it."

_Raph? _Alex thought, limping towards the mat. _Oh, kill me now!_ She made it out onto the mat, standing with all of her weight onto her good foot, waiting for Raph to make his way out there. Alex was getting rather nervous.

It didn't help when she finally saw Raph. He was dressed in the same outfit that Mikey and Don had been wearing; black pants, black vest, but the shirt he had under was red, instead of orange or purple. His hair was spiked up, and a black headband was tied around his forehead, making his hair seem even spikier.

Alex bit her lip. Raph was standing right in front of her a moment later, looking down at the much smaller girl with slight concern, flipping the sai in his hands. It wasn't very obvious that anything was wrong with Alex, but from the look Raph was giving her, he could tell there was something wrong. She ignored the look, stepping on her other foot, ignoring the pain.

Alex bowed respectfully and Raph bowed as well, keeping his eyes locked on the girl.

"Knock out prohibited, point system via hits, pins are accepted as knockouts," the ref said, then threw his hand down. "_Begin_."

Alex had to move back quickly, stepping onto her hurt ankle as she dodge not one, not two, but three slashes sent in Alex's direction. One of his arms went between her arm and her midsection. She quickly brought in her hand, hitting his wrist with the butt of her wooden sword, gaining her two points and disarming him of one of his sai. She threw it across the mat, far enough away where it would be too much of an effort to retrieve at that point.

She had to spin to try and avoid Raph's other hand, but his hit her on the stomach, knocking her off balance, twisting her ankle. She groaned both in pain and in annoyance that Raph got two points as well. The fight was escalating much quicker than she had anticipated, but she wouldn't have had it any other way (except with a healthy un-sprained ankle).

The girl dropped down to one knee, swinging out her leg. Raph managed to move back enough where he wasn't knocked off his feet, but Alex did manage to get a point by making contact with part of his calf.

She didn't' hit him the way she had wanted to though. Instead of using higher up on her leg to swipe out his feet, Alex's ankle made contact with his leg. Alex let out a small cry, bringing her leg back in.

She couldn't keep that up. She was at too big of a disadvantage. She was in pain and it wasn't a fair fight. It wasn't fair for her to put Raph in the situation where he had to fight an injured opponent.

There was only one thing for her to do. Alex sat up, kneeling on her knees and set her sword on the ground, bowing her head to Raph to show him and the ref that she was forfeiting.

"Match!" The ref said. "Win goes to the Hamato Clan."

Raph bent down next to Alex, putting his hand out for her to take. "Here," he said, helping her up. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Alex nodded her head, biting her lip to prevent herself from making any noises due to the pain in her ankle.

"It's your ankle, right? You limped out slightly before the match started." Raph said as he pulled her up gently.

Alex nodded her head again, stepping on her foot testingly. She hopped slightly, finding it extremely difficult to step on it. She was going to take forever to get back to her spot on the bleachers, that was for sure.

"I'll help you over to your spot with the rest of your team." Raph said. "You did great, don't feel bad about forfeiting. Though I think you should have done it earlier, stupid," he chuckled. "Let me help you out."

Alex's mouth fell open. _Okay, so he's still kind of rude, but he could tell something was wong and he's sweet enough to offer help? To a complete stranger? _"Thanks," she said, taking his arm. Together, the two slowly walked off the mats, Alex leading him to where Kerry and Alex's brothers were sitting. "I had to try, you know?"

"I guess I can't really scold you for it," he sighed. "I probably would have done the same thing," he said as he started walking her off the center ring. "It was the Foot Clan, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Alex asked. Nobody had been around when it happened except Kerry. How could he have possibly known?

"They're the only ones dishonorable enough to go for cheap shots to cause that kind of injury." Raph scoffed. "only question is if it was during a legalized match or not. I can never tell the difference between you Guardians so I don't know which one you are and who you fought."

"To them, there is no difference," Alex huffed.

"And that gives me my answer. They caught you outside the ring," Raph growled. "One of these days I swear I'm gonna-"

"Relax, hothead," Alex told him, gently squeezing his arm.

"Hothead?" Raph asked, blinking down at her before narrowing his eyes a bit suspiciously.

"Yeah," she said. "Come on, Raph. You can't tell me I don't sound _familiar_."

"Uh, well it's kinda muffled," Raph said shrugging.

"Think, Raphie," Alex urged.

"_Alex?!" _he hissed at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, the same reason you're here?" Alex asked. "Isn't that kind of obvious?"

"Why didn't you ever tell us you were into martial arts?" he asked.

"Never asked?" she shot back weakly. "I mean, you get we wear these masks for a reason, right? My parents don't like us to advertise that we're there."

"You're parents?" he asked.

"Yeah, they own the Guardian's School for Martial Arts," she told him. "I help teach classes there."

"So, this whole time you really did mean you knew how to take care of yourself?" he asked, leading her to an empty seat on a bleacher so she wouldn't have to be on her ankle anymore.

"Yeah, why would I lie about that?" she asked.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Kerry asked, coming over to Alex having seen the forfeit.

"Raph, what did you do?" Leo asked, coming up a second later with Mikey and Don right behind him.

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" Raph protested.

"Oh, ri-" Leo started to skeptically say.

"No, really," Alex interrupted. "It happened before the match. Raph had nothing to do with it. Speaking of which," Alex said, turning to look at Kerry, "How's your nose, Kerry?"

"Kerry?" Don gasped mouth dropping open in shock.

"Uh, yes?" she she said rubbing her arms a bit. "Hi guys." she said sheepishly and waving.

"Wait, if you're Kerry, then that means," Mikey started to realize. "Alex?"

"Hey Honey," she said. "Long time no see!"

"Wait, what happened to your nose?" Don asked, moving to Kerry. He put her masked face in his hands, moving her head to look at the blood stained fabric around her nose.

"I ran into a door!" she lied quickly her voice quivering as Don held her face so gently.

"A door?" Leo asked, unable to believe what the black haired girl said.

"Uh, it was a heavy door?" she added.

"Kerry, it's cool," she said. "I already told Raph."

"And you just don't tell me?! You wait until I say a stupid excuse!? The fuck!" Kerry complained, huffing as she plopped down next to Alex's leg, hitting it on accident.

"Ow, Kerry!" Alex said, hitting her arm. "Watch it, Fruitcake!"

"Bite me," she said.

"But seriously," Alex said. "How's your face feeling? The guy got in a pretty good punch."

"It-" She started to say.

"You mean you got punched in the face?!" Don gasped.

"Uh, yeah," Kerry answered. "It's no big deal."

"No big deal? It could be broken! You might have to get it placed!" Don said kneeling down and taking her face again in his hands, worry etched in place firmly.

"Don, relax," Alex told him. "Kerry and I have had this stuff happen before. Almost every competition, actually. I mean, my ankle doesn't always get strained, but you get what I mean."

"It's those stupid Foot Institute guys," Kerry added in agreement.

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"Two of the guys were bullying one of my students," Alex told them. "I don't take kindly to that."

"So you'll stick up for someone without any thought of what it'd do to you, but you don't stick up for yourself?" Raph whispered to her.

"Oh, shut up," she said, hitting his arm gently.

"Every competition they find some way to harass one of us or one of our kids. And as senior belts it's our job to defend them." Kerry stated crossing her arms. "It didn't help that this time they picked on one of my special babies!" She said referring to Jason.

"I know, I mean, it's one thing to pick on someone who can really defend themselves, but going after Jason?" Alex put in. "The kid doesn't want to hurt anybody!"

"It's very honorable of you to stick up for him," Leo said smiling at the two girls gently.

"We were just doing what we have too," Kerry said confused with a shrug.

"Why didn't you guys tell us you fought?" Mikey asked. "We could have trained together!"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Kind of dojo policy."

"Her parents are really strict about sticking to the shadows," Kerry said. "I mean, why else do you think we wear these things?" she grumbled as she pulled at her tight uniform.

"Because they make you look even more hot?" Mikey said with a flirty smirk.

Raph reached up and slapped him upside the head. "You do realize that she's the one you lost to, right?" He murmured.

Mikey didn't react for a moment. It wasn't until his face fell and he hid his face in his hands that Alex and Kerry smirked. "What I said doesn't leave us!" he said.

"Hmmm what? That you think you're in love?" Kerry chuckled at him. "After I beat you up?"

"L-L-Love?" Don stuttered. "Mikey, what are you saying to this poor girl?"

"W-What? I didn't know it was her!" Mikey defended. "All I knew is that she was a hot chick who could hand my ass to me okay! I mean," Mikey murmured and leaned it close. "look at her outfit!" He seemed to try and whisper.

"That doesn't give you the right to objectify girls like that," Don said trying to _not_ look at the outfit she was wearing. Kerry blinked in surprise, no guy had really ever thought like that about her.

"It was a compliment!"

"He's got a point," Raph said. "Your outfits don't really make you blend in."

"Well they're supposed to," Kerry murmured. "Works better for Marcus and the guys."

Mikey shivered. "I can't imagine wearing something so, so tight," he muttered.

"That's what Marcus and Zack said," Alex laughed.

"They're your brothers?" Leo asked.

"Two of them," Alex said with a nod. "Elliot's the oldest. Then there's the triplets: Marcus, Nathan and Zack."

"They're pretty cool." Kerry said. "Well...two out of the three triplets are." She scoffed a bit. "And I haven't meet Elliot yet."

"What's wrong with the other one?" Raph asked.

"Marcus has a thing for Kerry," Alex said. "And he can't take a hint that she doesn't like him."

"He's not that bad, I've gotten used to it," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Just gets a bit annoying after a while, not being able to have a regular conversation."

"Y-You shouldn't have to get used to it," Don said. "If you don't like him, he shouldn't make you feel uncomfortable by continuing to flirt with you." Kerry blinked again, a guy this sweet could not be real right? Guys never treated her this respectable before.

"T-Thanks Donnie." Kerry smiled. "Oh, and good job on your fight! Marcus was the one you fought by the way."

"H-He was?" Don asked, his face falling slightly hearing the news.

"Yeah, but you did so amazing." Kerry complimented. "I'm horrible with a bo staff." She chuckled. "I alway hit my self in the head."

"That explains so much," Raph said, smirk firmly in place.

"But then what happened to you?" Kerry shot back automatically. "I understand some people are just born stupid though."

"What did you just call me, hick?"

"S-T-U-P-I-D," Kerry spelt out for him. "Do you need a dictionary?" she scoffed, eyes darkening as he continued to tease.

"_Why yo-_"

Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him down next to her. He blinked, looking to the masked girl beside him, surprised that she had managed to pull him down so quickly and easily. Alex didn't realize that one of her thumbs was drawing circles on his flesh, trying to ease his temper.

"Relax," she told him smoothly, squeezing his arm gently to try and get him to relax. "She doesn't mean it. And you didn't mean what you said either. Can we both agree with that and move on? I'd rather not have to break up another fight. See where the last one got me?"

"We were fighting? I thought it was banter this time," Kerry murmured.

"So, uh, Alex," Mikey said, weaseling his way between Alex and Raph, putting his arms around the two. "What's this I hear about you and my bro here?"

"Uh, what?" Alex asked.

"I kind of, you know, told them about the whole fake dating thing," he told her, rubbing the back of his neck, looking at one of the matches going on across the arena.

"Oh, okay," Alex said, cheeks only slightly red. "Good. I told Kerry."

"You did?" he asked.

"Of course she did," Kerry told him. "I'm her HeterosexualLife Partner," she scoffed.

"Hey, don't you have another match, Raph?" Don asked suddenly. "Leo?"

"You should be getting ready for your next one too, Kerry," Alex added.

"Oh, right," Leo said. "I'll see guys later?"

"Sure," Alex said. "I'll be right here, taking down scores. Good luck!"

Don and Mikey stayed with Alex, helping her take down scores as Kerry, Leo and Raph all went back to their matches. Kerry was the next to get knocked out of the competition, followed by Raph and Leo. Some person from the Hikatori Honor School won the competition, but none of the group seemed to mind. At least it wasn't the Foot Institute.


	14. Fairness

Chapter 14  
Fairnesses

"Who else do you think we should invite?" Alex asked Kerry, sitting at the lunch table. She had been the first person there, Kerry the second. They were discussing things for the bowling birthday party they were throwing for the guys and, to Alex's dismay, herself, as the rest of the group started to arrive. "I mean, I feel bad we're not inviting more people on the guys side."

"Well, Don said they don't have very many people. They've been raised really secluded from society," Kerry said looking at her phone as she texted the boy. "I keep asking if there's anyone and he says no."

"It's so hard to believe that they don't have anybody else though," Alex said as Fred sat down next to her, arm hanging on the back of her chair. "I mean, they're just such great guys. How can people not like them?"

"I'm not sure." Kerry shrugged. "I guess some people are just so stuck on stereotypes, so they assume their weird due to being home schooled."

"Well, they are weird," Alex chuckled, "But they're our weird."

"I still can't believe you actually agreed to have a birthday party," Fred muttered, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I didn't have much of a choice," Alex grumbled. "It was either have a party with the guys or Kerry was going to throw two. I'd rather have a combined party. That way I can focus on them instead of me."

"I just don't understand how you can not like your birthday!" Emily exclaimed. "It's not natural."

"Lex ain't natural," Erik chuckled.

"I think it's a disease," Kerry said poking her forehead.

"Can we stop calling me an it?" Alex grumbled. "And I'm so not a disease!"

"No, she's the candy that makes everything better," Fred said, hugging the girl.

"...that was awkward," Kerry murmured as she took a drink.

"You're the one that called your best friend a disease," Fred spat.

"Hey," Alex eased. "I would have called her the same thing."

"Can you even joke, dude?" Kerry muttered. Despite having rallied together to convince Alex to be more honest, the relationship between Kerry and Fred hadn't improved otherwise.

"So, is everybody coming Friday?" Alex asked, changing the subject.

"Please tell me you're not throwing a party?" an annoying voice from behind Alex said.

Alex sighed, turning her head to see Amanda standing there, hands on her hips. She was wearing a black crop top, which was far too low for the school regulations (they weren't allowed to wear crop tops unless they had a tank top under them, because they weren't allowed to let their stomachs show), and extremely short shorts.

"It's none of your concern," Alex told her.

"Eavesdrop much?" Kerry murmured, eyes narrowed.

"Hillbilly much?" Amanda shot back. "Shouldn't you go back to whatever reservation you escaped from?"

"Better than spending any more time with you," Kerry murmured, eyes growing dark like it always did when someone poked fun at her culture.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" Fred suggested. "This doesn't involve you."

"Oh, I think it does," Amanda said. "Especially if it involves that yummy man of your's, Lex."

Alex's face fell. She glanced away, cheeks red. She had been putting off telling everybody other than Kerry what had happened and that her and Raph were "Fake Dating." The more people that knew was a danger to the whole thing. Emily couldn't keep a secret. Everybody else could, but what would happen if they talked about it and Amanda overheard? It wasn't be a good thing for Alex, that was for sure.

"I don't think anybody's described you as yummy before, Fred," Emily chuckled slightly.

Kerry glared up at Amanda, as if daring her to say anymore. She was not looking forward to Fred's freakout over Raph.

"Go away, Amanda," Alex muttered evenly.

"What? Did something happen between you and that god of a man?" Amanda said. "Were you unable to please him? Because from what I can see, you don't have much to give him."

"What's she talking about, Lexa?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, wasn't she just talking about Fred?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh, well," Alex muttered. "Well, you see…"

"Why don't you just shove off," Kerry said suddenly as she stood up whirling around to look at Amanda, trying to draw attention from Alex. She could take it, she had many times before, she was strong enough.

"Kerry, it's okay," Alex said, pulling her back down into her chair. She leaned into Fred and told him, "I'll tell you the full story later," and then move back to say, "I'm dating Raph."

"You're what!?" Fred snapped.

"Well, that was unexpected," Kiley said, blinking in shock.

"What?" Emily gasped. "You mean, Alfred isn't a thing? No, not my OTP!"

"Not the time, Em," Kerry said rubbing her sore nose, still in a bandage.

"Freddy, calm down," Alex told him.

"When did this happen?" he whispered harshly.

"L-Last week," Alex confessed. "It's a long story," she whispered to him. "I'll tell you _everything _later." She was trying to get him to understand there was more to the story. Even if she didn't tell everybody what was really going on, she had to tell Fred. He was her best friend, after all.  
"Why didn't you tell us, Lex?" Phoebe asked.

"We haven't been going out that long," she confessed. "Kind of wanted to make sure it was going to work out first before telling everybody."  
"You guys know her," Kerry defended. "She likes to keep things private until they actually become a big deal, you know?

"Wait, _you _knew about this?" Fred asked, face screwed up in disgust. "You told her?!"

"Yeah I did," Kerry said and looked to him. "We will talk later," Kerry tried to calm him down.

"Later, you keep saying _later_, but I can't get over the fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell me," Fred said. "I mean, Lexa, _I'm _your best friend. I was your _first _best friend. What the hell?"

"It's not like that," Alex told him, placing her hand on his arm to try and calm him down. Fred flinched away, standing up. "Freddy."

"Fred, come on," Kerry said, knowing how hurt Alex would be if he left.

"I, I, uh, I gotta go work on a project," he said, looking everywhere but there table.

"Come on, Fred. Sit back down, man," Erik told him.

"I, I'll catch you guys later," he said, turning away.

Alex's stomach dropped, her throat closing slightly. Was he really walking away? Was he that angry? She hurt him that much? _Oh God. What have I done?_ "Freddy!" Alex called, out. "Freddy!" Alex frantically looked at Kerry, begging her with her eyes to tell her what to do. She didn't know what to do. _What do I do?_

Kerry moved over to her taking her shoulders in her hands. "Breathe, okay? I need you to breathe with me," Kerry soothed her. "He's just really angry, he needs time to calm down so he can talk rationally." She assured her friend, brushing her hair from her face.

"Bu-bu-but he's never….why would...what….Why is he so mad?" Alex frantically asked. "I-I-I told him….I'd tell him….Bu-but...Why?"

"Alex," Kerry said. "I didn't want to say something, thinking it was his thing to tell, but this changes a few things." Kerry sighed. "Alex, Fred likes you more than a friend. So not only does he feel betrayed that you told me about Raph first, but you dating Raph is hurting him too."

"W-What?" she asked. "N-No, that's not right, that's can't be…"

Alex trailed off, a moment of her and Raph popping back up into her head.

* * *

"_And maybe guys don't ask you out because they don't know how to approach you, huh? That Fred guy-_

"_Whoa! What does Freddy have anything to do with this?" she demanded._

"_You really don't know?" Raph said looking at her bewildered before shaking his head and continuing walking. "God, you're dense."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?" she pressed, moving in front of him._

"_Listen if he can't man up and say anything that's his problem," Raph scoffed. "I'm not going to do it for him."_

* * *

"Oh my God," she gasp, heah going into her hands. "_Oh my God_. What have I done? I'm so fucking _dense_! What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Well, you are pretty dense," Phoebe muttered. "We all kind of new about his feelings for you."

"Why the hell didn't anybody tell me?" Alex asked. "Oh my God, I'm such an inconsiderate _ass_. Oh my God."

"Hey," Kerry said shaking her shoulders. "It's not all on you. He should have told you if it had gotten this bad for him. You can't not put all the blame on yourself." She told her.

"I'm his best friend, why didn't he tell me this?" Alex asked. "This is really big. Oh my God. What do I do? Oh shit."

"Like I said, he needs some time to think," Kerry said. "He needs to gather up what he wants to say, so tonight you will call him to talk, okay?"

Alex sighed, but nodded her head. She needed to figure out what to say to him too. What if he told her he liked her? What would she tell him? She didn't' have feelings like that for Fred. He was her best friend. Her brother. And what if he didn't? Could she ignore that he liked her? Wouldn't that be unfair for him? Or would it be unfair to her?

"Can we not let him know I know?" she asked everyone.

"My lips are sealed. I just thought you'd need that info going in so you can word things correctly, so no more damage is done," Kerry said, before looking to the rest of the table.

"Yeah, we won't say anything," Kiley said. "_Right_, Emily?"

Emily sighed. "_Fine_."

Alex sighed to, looking at her lunch. Suddenly, she wasn't very hungry anymore.

* * *

Alex sat against the fence outside of the school waiting for one of the guys to come and pick her up. She fiddled with the zipper of her backpack as the few remaining students filed out of the school leaving Alex alone outside of the school.

The redheaded girl stared at her fingers, trying to figure out what to do. She hadn't been able to concentrate since lunch, having found out about Fred's, apparently, not so very hidden feelings for the girl. She just had no idea how everything was going to go.

"Hey!" Raph said suddenly next to her. "I've been saying your name for the past five minutes."

"Oh," Alex said, glancing up at him. "Sorry," she said, picking up her bag. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Raph said taking her bag from her again. "How was school?"

Alex sighed. "Thanks and it was, uh, it was horrible, actually," she admitted. "I kinda want to go crawl under a rock and never come out."

"What happened?" he asked eyebrows pinching. "Did that girl mess with you again?"

"Uh, she caused it, but, it's not really her," Alex said, biting her lip. "You were right. I'm incredibly dense."

"So he finally said something, huh?" Raph murmured breathing through his nose. "I guess this is over, huh? You know, the fake relationship."

"Nope," Alex told him, watching the sidewalk as they walked. "Nope, nope, nope."

"Oh," Raph blinked confused. "I don't understand then, what happened?"

"We were talking about the party on Friday when Amanda heard. She brought you up, which turned the conversation to our "relationship." Fred got angry. Stormed out," Alex told him.

"Shit," Raph murmured. "Listen Alex. I'm sorry, I really didn't think of how he'd react to all this," he apologized earnestly.

Alex looked up at him, confused as to why he was apologizing. "It's not your fault, Raph. It's mine," she said. "I mean, I told him there was more to the story. That I would tell him, but he stormed out."

"Then it's not your fault if he wouldn't listen," Raph said and looked to her. "Not to be a douche or anything but he isn't a real friend if he values a possibility of a romantic relationship with you over keeping you as a friend."

Alex bit her lip. _He really thinks that? _"He doesn't know I know," Alex told him.

"Kerry spoke up?" Raph said for once not calling her 'the hick.' "Well, I can't say I can fault her for that one, you need to know how to handle this. Anyway," he said getting back on topic. "That has nothing to do with him running off. He would have stuck around for an explanation if he valued friendship over romantics."

Alex sighed, shaking her head. "I-I don't know what to do, Raph," she said. "I have to call him tonight, but what if he tells me he likes me?"

Raph gently grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Do you like him?" Raph asked simply.

Alex sighed, head falling forward slightly as she looked to her feet. "No," she answered. She looked back up at him. "I don't."

"Then tell him that." Raph shrugged. "I'm not saying he'll take it well, but you need to be honest."

"I can't lose him, Raph," she told him, choking up. "He's my best friend. I can't lose him."

"We can't help losing people sometimes," Raph said softly. "It just happens."

"I know," she muttered. "I just, I...He…" she sighed, head falling forward and resting onto his chest.

Raph blinked, as if in shock. "U-Uh," He murmured before wrapping his arms around her, making her stomach flip a little. "Sorry, I know I'm a dick."

She shook her head, which resulted in rubbing it against his chest. "No, it's not that," she sighed. "You're just being honest. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Uh," Raph murmured once more, blushing darkly as he patted her back. "Yeah, no problem."

Alex looked up at him, subconsciously putting her hands on his hips, leaning further into the hold. "It's just, how could I have been so blind? I mean, thinking about it now, we do everything a regular couple would except, well, the kissing and the actual _feelings_."

"Well, you were comfortable with the relationship, you didn't want it to go anywhere so your head just didn't go there, you know?" Raph murmured, playing with her hair gently.

Alex bit her lip, going weak in the knees ever so slightly at Raph playing with her hair. Oh, that was her weakness! "Maybe," she said slightly dreamily from how relaxed his action was making her. "I just think it's unfair to Freddy. Or maybe it's unfair to me. I don't know. Maybe both."

"I think both," Raph chuckled a bit.

"It explains so much though," she added, eyes going closed, head tilting towards his hand a little.

"Now you know how the rest of us saw it." He laughed.

"I crushed Emily's dream," she giggled a little. "She said that 'Alfred' was her OTP."

"You mean the girl who flirted with Mikey?" Raph asked.

"Yup, that's her," Alex nodded, a small smile in place as she looked up into Raph's green eyes. "She's always wanted to get us together. Again, another thing I missed. Why am I so blind when a guy likes me? I'm perfectly capable of being able to tell when other people like each other. Just not when it comes to me!"

"You'd be surprised at how blind a person can be to those kinds of things. It's common."

"Really? So I'm not that much of a freak?" she asked.

"Nope, well, you _are _a freak," Raph teased to which Alex hit his arm lightly. "But not for that reason, no."

She laughed, shaking her head slightly. She looked back up at him and stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, rather close to his lips. "Thanks, Raph."

Raph cleared his throat, letting Alex go. He adjusted her backpack over his shoulder, the other hand rubbing the back of his neck. "No prob, Firecracker," he said. "Now come on, Mikey's got a big exam coming up."

"Right," she said, pulling him by his arm. "Come on."

"I just said that," he grumbled.

"Dork," she muttered.

"Butch."

"Hothead."


	15. Hard Calls

Chapter 15

Hard Calls

Four times. Alex had called Freddy four times and she had not gotten an answer to any of them. She was getting extremely worried. Was he ever going to pick up? Would he ever talk to her again? Was he angry? Sad? Was this the end of their friendship? Alex was overthinking it and it was killing her sitting on her bed just waiting.

"Come on," she muttered, staring at her phone. "Don't leave me hanging like this."

Alex screamed when the phone finally rang. She slammed her bedroom door shut to prevent anybody from going in to ask what her problem was and then went back to her bed, slowly answering the phone.

"Freddy?" she asked.

There was silence for a moment before Alex finally heard Fred say, "_Hey_."

"Hey yourself," Alex said back. "You okay? You were really upset earlier."

"_Uh, yeah,_" he said. "_I-I'm sorry about that, Lexa. I lost my head._"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alex said. "I get it."

"_Y-You do?_" he asked nervously.

_Oh crap, he thinks I'm talking about his feelings. Think, say something, stupid! _"Yeah, I mean, I guess I would have been annoyed too. But you've got to know that I was going to tell you."

"_To tell me you got a boyfriend?_" he asked. "_I would have thought you would have been so excited that you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret._"

"That's just it though," Alex said. "Raph and I aren't actually dating."

Again, silence. "_What?_" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "You see, I've getting a lot of crap from Amanda lately and it got so bad that Raph jumped in and pretended to be my boyfriend to get her to back off. We're not _actually _dating."

_"Y-You're not dating?"_ Fred asked.

"No," Alex assured him. "We have to pretend if Amanda's around, but that's it. We're just friends." _And it's an incredibly sweet thing for him to do._ "He's a friend helping out of friend."

_"So you don't have feelings for him?"_

_Have feelings for Raph?_ Alex gulped. Raphael was a lot of things and she felt a lot about him. He was sweet and funny, but he irritated her _so _much. There were so many things he did that bugged, her, like how easily he could get angry. Or how much he bickered with Kerry. But then he made her laugh. And he was going out of his way for Alex in doing this.

"I," she said, "We're just friends, Freddy."

"_So, I have to ask this,_" Fred started to say.

_Oh, please tell me don't do what I think you're going to do!_ "Yeah?" she asked.

"If I had been there, would you have done the same thing?" Fred asked. "Come up with a fake relationship, I mean."

_Oh, thank you God! _"Uh, I don't know," Alex said. "I wasn't the one to come up with it."

"_So,"_ he murmured. "_He did?_"

"Yeah, it was really quick thinking on his part," Alex said.

"_Isn't that a bit creepy?_" he grumbled.

"W-What do you mean?" Alex asked. She hadn't really thought about that.

"_That that is what his mind automatically went to?_" Fred grumbled. "_The guy is bad news. I don't want you seeing him."_

Now, maybe he had a point. It was a little odd that Raph's mind went straight to pretending to be her boyfriend, though it had been the second time they he had come to her defense. So maybe it wasn't? But that wasn't the point! She didn't like how he was putting Raph down. He was her friend and he was doing her a massive favor. He shouldn't bash him.

"He's not a bad guy," Alex told him.

"_I barely know him."_ Fred countered.

"But _I _do," Alex said. "And you trust my judgement, right?"

"_Yes,"_ he grumbled.

"Then trust me when I say he's not a bad guy," Alex said. "He's got his own problems. Everybody does. But he's really sweet. He just has a wall. You know what I mean? Kind of like Kerry."

"_Oh yeah cause we need another of her._" Fred snapped. "_Stop taking in strays_," he seemed to sigh sadly.

"_Freddy_," Alex scolded.

"_She's hiding something! You have to be able to tell that, right?"_

_No, actually_, Alex thought. "So what?" Alex asked. "We all hide things. There are things people aren't comfortable sharing. I can't blame her for that."

"_I thought you guys told each other everything," _he grumbled a bit. "_I can see how sketchy she is. Same for that Ralph guy.""_

"His name is _Raph_," Alex corrected. "And they're not sketchy, Freddy. They're my friends. If they were sketchy, I wouldn't hang around them." She really didn't like what he was saying. "They're good people."

"_You saw how Kerry almost went at Amanda today! Girl's a time bomb and I don't want you on the receiving end!"_

"She was trying to get the attention off of me!" Alex defended the black haired girl who wasn't around to defend herself.

"_And it had nothing to do with Amanda calling her a hillbilly off an indian reservation?" _He said sarcastically.

"No!" Alex told him.

"_...I didn't call you to fight, Lexa."_

"Then why do you keep bashing my friends?" she asked. "I mean, if anybody did this to you I would defend you just the same."

"_I'm not so sure anymore,"_ He murmured to her. "_I feel like you're leaving..."_

_What?_ she asked herself. "Freddy, how could you think that?" she asked. "I'm not going anywhere. You can't get rid of me that easily, you know."

"_You don't seem to need me."_

"How can you think that?" Alex asked, feeling hurt. "Ask any one of our friends. I almost hyperventilated after you left today."

"_...Sorry,"_ Fred murmured. "_I didn't want to get into it front of everyone."_

"I was scared I lost you," she told him. "You've never done anything like that before."

"_I said I'm sorry,_" he groaned.

"I know, and I said it's okay," Alex told him. "It's just, I, I can't lose you, Freddy. You're my best friend."

"_I can't lose you either"_

_I hate that there's a double meaning in that, _Alex thought. I _can't give you what you really want. But I'm also so happy to hear you say that. What is wrong with me?_

"_Hey, I'm going to go to bed, okay?_" He sighed.

"Yeah, okay," Alex said. "Goodnight, Freddy. Thanks for calling me back."

"_Night,"_ he said and hung up.

Ale looked at the phone in her hand and sighed. _Well, that could have gone better,_ she thought. _But at least he knows the truth and he's talking to me. And he didn't tell me how he really feels._

_Uh, but how am I going to look him in the face tomorrow without thinking about how he really feels? How can I do it without knowing that every second it could be hurting him? Why does this have to be so complicated?_

* * *

Procrastinating wasn't something Alex normally did. She found it far too stressful with her schedule. But that was exactly what she had done in buying birthday presents for the guys. She just didn't really know what to get any of them. She was that person that was always there to help, but never knew what to buy people.

Alex and Kerry were out buying birthday presents, having already finished buying everything else for their cosmic bowling birthday party.

"Okay so we each got Mikey a comic book, that should fit him just nicely," Kerry said as she texted away on her phone to one of the guys most likely.

"And Don the new Popular Mechanics issues," Alex helped list.

"Thanks again for that. I was so worried I'd get him something stupid." Kerry sighed.

"Oh, Don would like anything you'd get him," Alex said. "Even underwear, I swear."

"S-Shut up! He's just really nice, okay?" Kerry murmured. "You have to admit he's probably the sweetest boy on Earth!"

"Yes, yes he is," Alex agreed.

"Oh! I think I remember seeing this old book on Japanese calligraphy at that old womans shop," Kerry said. "Think Leo might like it?"

"Oh, that sounds perfect," Alex said. "Come on!"

"Alright alright!" Kerry chuckled as she took the girls hand and jogged with her down the sidewalk. "Say, any idea's for Raph?"

"Absolutely no idea," Alex said. "I've been stuck on that since we started planning this thing. What about you?"

"I got him some decals for his bike." Kerry shrugged. "Not like I actually know anything about the guy other than he rides."

"Uh, why didn't I think of that?" Alex groaned. "It's not like I can get him another one of those. One's enough."

"Come on, Lexi," Kerry said as she entered the red door of the shop. She paused coming face to face with an odd, fox like mask on display. She scoffed and moved around it. "You know the guy better than I do."

"You think I would," she muttered. "Really, all I know is that he loves to work out, loves sai, his motorcycle, pizza and cereal."

Alex and Kerry went off to the back of the store to pick of the present for Leo when they stumbled on some pretty jewelry. Alex kept looking at the rings, trying them on. She may have been a big tomboy, but that didn't mean she didn't beauty the rings held. She would put them on and wonder what she had that would go with them before taking it off, figuring she didn't have anything nice enough to go with the ring.

"I need to go shopping to get a new wardrobe," Alex muttered.

"I can help with that," Kerry smirked a bit. She paused and went over to another section of the store. "Hey she has some Native American stuff over here!"

"Cool," Alex said, turning to start following Kerry, but stopped when her eyes caught a little basket on a table to her left. She glanced inside to see little leather band bracelets with Japanese characters written on them. Curious, Alex stopped and looked through them before finding the only black one.

Alex pulled it out and held it gently in her hands, flipping it over. "Courage," she muttered, reading the red character on it.

"Huh?" Kerry asked, putting down the dream catcher she had been looking at.

"Oh, uh," Alex said, glancing up, holding the bracelet. "D-Do you think Raph would like this? It made me think of him."

"Hm?" Kerry asked taking a look over her shoulder. "Dude yeah! I have those, they are awesome. Though mine don't have writing. They look cool and are great when fighting. Good wrist support."

"You really think he'd like it?' Alex asked, unsure. "I mean, it's a bracelet. I've never seen him wear anything other than those dog tags."

"Maybe because he thinks jewelry is girly. But these just scream 'I'm a man.'" Kerry chuckled a bit.

"Do you need to feel more manly, Kerry?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"Every day, hon," she said pulling up the sleeve of her leather jacket to show her own arm bands, going up a bit higher than Raph's world. "I'm so hard core it's not even funny."

Alex laughed, looking back down at the bracelet. "You are such a dork. I love it."

"Mwwah!" Kerry said jokingly kissing the air near her cheek. "I know, I love you too." she chuckled and went back to looking, eyes having caught something that sparked a surprise for later.

"No, really," Alex said. "Thanks for being you, Kerry. I can't imagine being without you anymore."

Kerry seemed to pause, not really having expected that. "U-uh yeah. Yeah." she cleared her throat. "Who else would I be you know?" she joked with a half hearted laugh. "I'll go get the old woman so we can check out."

"Okay, thanks," Alex said. Kerry quietly disappeared behind a curtain and soon came back with the old woman.

"You found something," she said with no question. She was a woman of seemingly unknown ethnicity, with wise old eyes. "Ready?" She asked going over to the register.

"Yup," Alex said, going over to her. She paid quickly.

"I hope you get everything you hope for." The woman smiled at her. "and stay out of trouble." she cackled.

Alex glanced at Kerry, not really sure what the woman meant by that but smiled and thanked her anyways.

Kerry seemed to go through and buy some things her self, though it didn't surprise Alex. Kerry always had a thing for stuff like this. She thanked the woman and just about shoved her friend out the door.

"Okay, I like her and stuff, but she gives me the creeps." she said once she closed the red door behind her.

"What did she mean by that?" Alex asked, looking back at the shop as they walked away.

"How should I know, she always says stuff like that when I go in there," Kerry shrugged. "Stay out of trouble, don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, stay away from owls." She scoffed at the last one.

"Okay then," Alex said slowly.

"Yeah, but you have to admit her shop is awesome!" Kerry grinned at her.

"Yeah, I'll definitely go back there," Alex said with a nod. "Hey, you want to get chinese for dinner?"  
"Sure, mind if we take it to my place? My mom might be calling today." Kerry shrugged, It was always hit or miss with her mom calling. And sometimes when she did the reception was so horrid you couldn't hear her anyway.

"Yeah, no problem," Alex said.

"Sweet, I'll break out the wine," she joked.

Alex scoffed. "Can you picture me drinking?" she asked.

"...peach daiquiri?" Kerry asked, totally seeing it.

"I'm more of a strawberry person," Alex admitted.

"Ahaha alcoholic" Kerry teased

"Shut up," Alex said, hitting her on the arm.

* * *

Alex was laying on her stomach eating her orange chicken on Kerry's living room floor. Kery was sitting next to her with her back against the couch.

"So did you end up talking to Fred?" Kerry asked.

"Yeah," Alex answered. "And it was the most awkward thing I've ever done. At least he didn't tell me he liked me. That would have been ten times worse."

"So what did you guys talk about then? Did you make up?" she asked as she scarfed down more rice.

"Yeah, but it was weird. He made some weird points," Alex said. "Like he feels like we're not as good of friends anymore."

"Really?" Kerry scoffed. "Come on, you guys are like two peas in a pod!" She rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, I mean, I denied that," she said. "But he might be right."

"Do you feel like you're drifting apart?" Kerry asked as she rolled around so she was laying on her stomach with her friend, dragging down some pillows from the couch.

Alex sighed. "Honestly? Yeah, I think we are."

"And did you talk to him about that?" Kerry asked with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, Dorkfish the guy is not a mind reader. He doesn't know you feel the same."

"No, I know that," Alex said. "It's just, some of the other things were getting to me too. Like, he talked about how he doesn't like you or Raph and that really bothered me. I really care about the two of you."

"I kinda knew that part already." Kerry said with a bitter laugh. "Not that hard to guess. He doesn't hide it."

"No that's obvious," Alex said. "It's that he's not even trying anymore. I mean, there are so many things that I'd do with him that I hate, but because he wanted to do them I did it. And he can't try and be nice to the people I care about?"

"But you shouldn't lose a life long friend over us Lexi," Kerry murmured. "I don't want to be that person, and neither does Raph."

"And I shouldn't have to decide between having a life long friendship with you guys and him," Alex said.

"Okay then," Kerry sighed before peeking at her. "Do you ever think, hear me out here," She began. "That maybe you guys just aren't the same people anymore? That you're both changing?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "He never used to get like this. He never used to get this jealous over anything."

"Becoming a teenager does that sometimes. Emotions go crazy, we stop worrying about things like whose team to be on for kickball, and start worrying about how we dress and who and who doesn't like us," Kerry said hand talking with her chopsticks. "It's a time where we all change, for better or worse. Like Amanda," Kerry pointed out thoughtfully. "You said she was okay when you guys were younger, right?"

"Yeah, we used to be rather close, actually," Alex admitted

"So maybe it's like that," Kerry said with a shrug. "Just not as extreme."

"Yeah, maybe," Alex said. "That's so sad. But let's talk about something happier. How are you and Don getting along?"

"Don and me?" Kerry blinked for a second then out her chin in her hand. "Don and me..." she murmured in through. "He's great I mean, we're always texting, he's funny and really nice. He helped me with homework a bunch of times."

"Anything on the romantic front?" Alex pressed, running her fingers through Kerry's short hair as she continued to lay in her stomach.

"Oh not even, Alex," Kerry scoffed slightly. "I mean just, just no," she sighed.

"Why not? You obviously like him and he obviously likes you," Alex said. "What's the problem?"

"It's just, things like that just don't work for me," Kerry shrugged. "It's better if we just, don't"

"You never know if you don't try, Kerry," Alex said.

"Trying can do a lot of damage, you know," Kerry murmured pulling down on her long sleeves.

"But it can also fix so much," Alex said.

"I'm not the person to fix things." Kerry chuckled a bit. "Especially at this time in my life," she said peeking at her open laptop, where her Skype sat inactive.

"Maybe you're not supposed to be the one doing the fixing," Alex thought.

"Maybe I don't want to be fixed." Kerry grumbled looking away stubbornly.

"Maybe that's just what you're telling yourself because you're scared to try," Alex said. "Maybe you don't think you can be fixed."

"I'm not scared!" Kerry suddenly yelled. "I don't -" Kerry cut herself off, realizing her temper had been lit. "S-sorry. I'm fine." She said looking away.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Alex told her.

"Haha, good one." Kerry sighed running a hand through her hair. "No really, don't let me scream at you like that, okay?"

"And I'm being serious, Kerry," Alex said. "You don't have to be sorry. You can be whatever it is you need to be when you're around me. You're my best friend and I'm here to be whatever you need me to be. If that's someone to scream at, so be it."

"I don't like screaming," Kerry murmured suddenly. "I hate the feeling of that." The words seemed a bit off, dazed, and just...wrong sounding. Something with her speech patterns.

"It's okay," Alex said, running her hand through her hair again. "Hey, I'm right here. You're okay. Everything's fine."

"U-Uh." Kerry said seeming to snap out of it. "Yeah, yeah everythings fine." She said smiling softly, her eyes dark. "We're all good."

"But you would tell me if something's wrong, right?" Alex asked.

"Something wrong?" Kerry asked quietly. "W-Why would anything be wrong?" Kerry said shaking her head, her poker face back and hands gripping her arms tightly. "It's all good." she said rambling a bit.

Something didn't feel right. "Kerry?" Alex asked. "You made me promise to come to you with things. You have to know I'm here for you too, right?"

Kerry was quiet just staring at the ground for a bit. "S-Shit," Kerry murmured, a slightly hysteric laugh breaking from her lips. "My own words against me? That's a low blow," she murmured. "I-It's nothing really."

"If it's bothering you then of course it's something," Alex said. "What's wrong? You can tell me anything, you know that."

"It's just," Kerry sighed. "Just some problems at school, people talking shit." Kerry shrugged a bit. "You know me, it'll roll off," she tried to wave away.

Alex backed up a little. "What?"

"People just say a few things here and there," Kerry murmured. "Mostly to my face, some behind my back. But it kinda builds up, you know? Hick, Rez Brat, Punk, Red Skin, HillBilly-" she shrugged.

"Obviously I know," Alex told her. "I mean, you know what goes on with Amanda. And I know how it feels. It's not a good feeling. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I'm just kinda used to it now. I mean even Fred and Emily make a few comments here and there, I just try and block it out." Kerry confessed. "Before my mom's transfer here it happened back in Texas too anyway."

"Emily doesn't mean any of that to hurt you, Kerry. Plus, she's kind of a dits so she doesn't realize what it does," Alex said. "And what other people say doesn't matter. They're not important. They're not your friends."

"That's what I tell my self, but once you hear something over and over, it kinda becomes true, even if it isn't," Kerry murmured, bangs hiding her eyes. "I'm the punk trouble maker with red skin who doesn't know how to read." She scoffed.

"Yeah, I get that," Alex sighed, moving Kerry's hair out of her eyes. It was shocking to see tear pricks in the corner of her eyes. "Wanna know what I think?"

"What's that?" Kerry mumbled slightly. "That I can kick their asses?" she joked, never one to let sadness control her in front of others.

"That you're one of the most independent, strong, beautiful girl I've ever met," Alex told her. "You're funny and you're one of the most protective people I know. And that's not a bad thing. It's amazing to see just what you'd do for the people you care about. And that's important. _You're important,_ Kerry. And don't let anybody's words ever make you feel any different."

"T-T-T," Kerry tried to thank but couldn't control her breathing. She downed her head to hide away in her crossed arms in front of her, back shaking slightly as she held in some of the more embarrassing crying sounds girls make. "T-t-tha-thanks." She blubbered, gasping for air finally.

Alex hushed the girl and pulled her into a tight, comforting hug. "You don't have to say anything," Alex told her. "You don't have to do anything. You can just cry. You can laugh. You can hit me for being a sappy girl about this."

"B-Bite me Dorkfish," Kerry shot back through her tears as she heaved a bit. She felt so small right now, about 2 inches tall in a world made for giants, one wrong move and risk being crushed beyond repair.

"Love you too, Fruitcake," Alex told her.


	16. Bowlerama

Chapter 16

Bowlerama

"Well, don't you look _smokin_," Alex said to Kerry when she got the bowling alley. The two girls were there early to set up the balloons and whatnot. Kerry had apparently gotten there earlier than Alex and had already started setting up everything. It was shocking because between that and the girls outfit it was a wonder she had time to breathe!

"Thanks! You're so cute!" Kerry was wearing dark black jeans that shined like leather paired with her normal black boots. She had another corset top laced up her figure with purple flowers tracing up the white fabric. And would it be Kerry without a leather jacket? No! Along with her usual jewelry choices. The girls looked quite hot.

Alex herself was wearing a war knit sleeveless button down maroon sweater over a long sleeve white shirt. She wore a simple pair of light blue jeans and a pair of maroon heeled ankle boots, that would have to be changed out for pair of those rather gross bowling shoes at the counter. She had silver earrings hanging down from her pierced ears that were shown off since she had her hair pulled to one side.

Alex had also gone out of her way to try and put makeup on, which she had done rather successfully. She had very little on. But her dark red lips stuck out the most, complimenting her skin tone very well. She had a very light smoky look around her eyes, darkening her green eyes, but she went with it to go with the darker look.

"I taught you well," Kerry joked, smiling with her own dark burgundy lips.

"Thank you," Alex said with a soft smile. "Nice work here, by the way. You didnt' have to start without me."

"It's fine, I had time. 'Sides, this is right up my alley," she grinned at her.

Alex giggled. "Alley. Bowling alley," she laughed. "Get it?"

"AH! I didn't even intend that!" Kerry said cheerfully. "I am so awesome!"

"You are the pun master," Alex laughed with her. "So, need help with anything?"

"Uh, just mixing the punch is left to be done." Kerry shrugged. "That's about it. The food and cake is already set up."

Alex glanced over at the table. "Oh _chicken wings_!" she exclaimed, turning back to Kerry. "I love you. Will you marry me?"

Kerry blinked at her before laughing. "Sorry you're not my type," Kerry winked at her with an eye roll. "Think the guys will like it?"

"Oh, they'll love it," Alex said. "It's _perfect_!"

Kerry couldn't help but smile extremely bright at the encouragement, basicly thriving in it. "Great! I worked hard on it, I just wanted to give you guys the best birthday!"

"It'll be one they'll never forget," Alex said, giving Kerry a side hug, a deep blush on her face. "And, uh, thanks. From me too."

"No problem, Dorkfish!" Kerry said. "It was fun! I never get to plan parties like this!"

"Fruitcake," Alex muttered.

"Happy Birthday!" a voice yelled from behind the girls. They turned to see Emily, Kiley and Erik walk in, presents in hand. Emily had been the one to yell.

"Thanks," Alex said, hugging each of her friends. A couple moments later, after the three arrives sat down at the table, Phoebe, Rudy and Fred walked in.

"Hey guys," Alex greeted, also giving them hugs. "Thanks for coming."

Kerry winked at her friend before going off to finish up last minute preparations, leaving her to talk to their friends.

"Hey," Alex told Fred, giving him a hug. "Thanks for coming," she whispered to him, giving him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Of course," he told her, looking at her slightly sadly.

"It means a lot to me," she pressed.

"Like I said," he told her, "I'm happy to be here. Plus, I have to regain my title. You beat me last time we bowled."

"Honey, that title is going to remain mine," Alex told him.

"I wonder what Raph would think seeing you hanging all over _Richard_."

_Oh no,_ Alex internally screamed. _No, no, no, no. This can't be happening. _She turned, her eyes locking with Amanda's brown eyes. _Not today. Not now. _

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kerry called from over at the food table, arms crossed looking out right pissed.

"I'm bowling with my girls," she said, glancing back at a table of several other girls that were dressed similarly to Amanda. "Is that a crime?" she asked.

_But did she have to come today? Of all days? I mean, it's my birthday! My actual birthday! And the boys' party!_

"Then go with your girls and stay out. This is a private party," Kerry said instantly stepping between her friends, including Fred, and Amanda as if shielding them.

"I expect to see that God of your's, Lex," Amanda said, slowly backing up. "I've missed that beautiful face of his."

"Oh, she did _not _just say that," Emily said. "Not about my new OTP."

Alex blinked at her. "Really?" she asked her skeptically, a blush on her face.

Kerry marched up and glared at Amanda. "Turn around and leave. Go back to your friends or whatever and stop harassing us." she said glaring.

Amanda rolled her eyes and muttered, "Hick," before turning around and going to her friends.

"Tch, good comeback, moron," Kerry grumbled, her bubbly, excited mood gone.

"Kerry?" Alex asked, turning to the girl. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

"On it," Kerry sighed and headed to the door, trying to hide the tears of frustration building.

Once outside, Alex let out a long breathe, sitting down on the ground against the side of the building. "Oh my God," she sighed. "Really? Today of all days she has to show up and do this?"

"She's going to ruin everything!" Kerry stomped. "I worked so hard on it too!" she said lower lip jutting out.

"Kerry?" Alex asked. "None of it's going to waste. It's great. And we'll have _fun_, okay? I just, I can't believe I have to ask Raph to pretend during his birthday party. That's not fair to him. Uh, this sucks!"

"I know, this is for Raph too! That's why I want him to have fun too!" Kerry murmured.

"Hey guys!" Mikey's voice yelled out.

Both girls turned their head to the boys walking over, presents in hand.

"What's going on?" Leo asked. "Why aren't you guys inside?"

Kerry sniffed, trying to cheer up before she turned around to face them. She took a deep breath before turning around fully. "I-It's just an unexpected surprise." Kerry said a small smile on her face as she waved to the birthday boys. "And not a good one."

"What do you mean?" Don asked. "What's wrong?"

"_She's _here," Kerry said though that was more aimed at Raph since he'd understand who she is better than the others. "All my work," She bemoaned.

"Kerry," Alex pressed again, getting up from her spot on the ground. "I told you, it's not ruined. We'll have fun, right guys?"

"Of course!" Mikey exclaimed.

"We can't let all your hard work go to waste," Don told her, gently placing his hand on Kerry's arm. Kerry peeked up at him, and slowly her lower lip stopped pouting and she gave a smile.

"Okay," Kerry said smiling more brightly. "As long as you guys have fun, everything will be awesome!"

"See?" Alex told her, bumping her hip slightly. "Now go show the guys inside."

"You and Raph gonna talk?" Kerry whispered to her after nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," Alex told her.

Kerry nodded before taking Leo and Don's wrists and pulling them to the door. "Come on slow pokes, get moving! You're late to your own party!"

Once they were inside, Alex turned to Raph and blurted out, "I am _so _sorry. I can't believe she's doing this. It's your freakin' _birthday party _for crying out loud!"

"So?" Raph asked.

"I can't ask you to pretend on your party!" she exclaimed. "That's not fair. You shouldn't have to _work _at your party! Uh. I'm so sorry."

Raph leaned in, successfully shutting the girl up with his lips on her's. His lips moved easily against her, the hand on her neck holding her firmly in place. Alex was surprised, but got over it rather quickly. She had almost forgotten just how enjoyable it was to kiss him. She leaned into the kiss more, hands going to his hips as her lips moved with his.

He pulled back far too quickly, forehead pressed against the smaller redhead's. "Shut up," he told her. "Amanda's watching."

Alex bit her lip, eyes still closed. Her stomach flipped hearing him say that. Even though he had only kissed her because Amanda was watching, she still found it incredibly sweet that he did it, on the day of his party. It was a day supposed to be for _him _and he was willing to help _her_. "Thanks," she muttered, opening her eyes and glancing up.

Alex snorted, putting a hand over her mouth to prevent another embarrassing noise from escaping. She couldn't help it. In the corner of his lip was a deep smudge of red that matched the exact same shade Alex had on her lips. She had gotten lipstick on him!

"Don't tell me you're one of those _giggly _kind of girls," he asked her.

"Uh, no," she huffed, trying not to laugh. "It's just, uh, well, you've kinda," she said, placing her hand on his cheek, using her thumb to wipe the small smudge of deep red lipstick off his lips. "I got lipstick on you," she told him, biting her lip.

The boy gave a slight chuckle. "You marking your territory or something?"

Alex laughed lightly. "It wasn't on _purpose_," she told him. "Why, do you _want _me to mark you?" she teased.

"Hmm maybe. Would it keep the skank away?" Raph joked back.

"Mmm, probably not," she thought honestly.

"Darn, guess I'll wait until I can get a tattoo." Raph chuckled.

Alex blinked, looking up curiously at him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her into the building. "You want a tattoo?" she asked.

"Yeah, on my arm." Raph nodded. "I want to get the family crest."

Alex smiled up at him. That was heartwarming. She knew he would do anything for his family. Even if he didn't always get along with them. "That's sweet," she told him.

"Um, I think you're looking for the word _awesome_," he scoffed.

"I _guess _you could use that too," she teased, bumping her hip against his lightly as they walked.

"Hey, watch it girly," he chuckled as he opened the door and lead them in to see Kerry making sure everyone kept the piece.

"Oh yeah? And what if I don't, hm?" she asked, walking away from him, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

"I'd have to punish you," he smirked down at her.

"Puh-lease," she said. She leaned against the table next to Kerry, turning back to look at Raph. "What could you possibly do?"

"A lot of things I can't say in public," he said and laughed went Kerry choked on her punch.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it," Alex pressed, sitting on the table. "No balls."

"Don't make me pull your hair," Raph smirked.

"Oookay!" Kerry said standing up from her spot. "Who wants to bowl? I wanna bowl!"

Alex blushed. _B-But I want him to play with my hair…._ She bit her lip and got up. "Okay, bowling! Should we have teams?"

"Uh yeah, Alex and Leo, you can pick people to be on your teams," Kerry said smiling. "Play rock, paper, scissors, to see who picks first!"

Alex threw down rock and Leo threw down scissors, meaning Alex got to pick first. "Okay," she said. "Kerry."

Fred gave a scowl as the dark hair girl grinned and gave her best friend a fist bump.

"Raph," Leo said.

"Oh!" Emily yelled. "You're man just got stolen by his brother! Bro's before Hoes, I guess."

Kerry couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Chicks before dicks though," Kerry said motioning to her self and Alex then Raph.

Alex winked. "You are going down so hard," she told him.

"That a promise, Babe?" Raph winked right back causing Fred to growl somewhere behind Alex.

"Only in your _dreams_, Raphie Boy," she told him smoothly, blush deep on her face.

"You know it." Raph grinned at her.

"Oh god just pick already." Erik groaned, face in his hands.

Alex rolled her eyes and said, "Don."

Don grinned at her and made his way over from his brothers. "We're so going to win," He joked with them as he bumped his hand against Kerry's arm playfully.

"Freddy," Alex picked.

"Mikey," Leo said.

"Erik," Alex said.

"Phoebe," Leo picked.

"Kiley," Alex called.

"Rudy," Leo said.

"Great!" Kerry smiled. "So everyone has their shoes and balls, just put them on alley 6 if your on Alex's team and on alley 7 if your on Leo's!" she said with a grin, obviously already enjoying this. She must not have done this before with such a large group of friends. Everyone dispersed, separating on either side of the table.

"Hey, what does the winning team get?" Erik asked.

"Hm?" Kerry asked. "I-I didn't plan on a bet." She grumbled in thought, eyebrows furrowing into a cute thinking face. "What would everyone want?"

"Arcade tokens!" Mikey exclaimed.

"That could work," Alex thought.

"Right. Okay are we going loser pays for tokens or an already established amount before hand?" Kerry asked.

"Well, on average an arcade game costs two tokens per turn. We could do ten tokens each," Don suggested.

"How do you even know that?" Kiley blinked at him.

"Don's the resident genius," Mikey told her.

"The best of the best!" Kerry agreed with a laugh.

Don blushed, rubbing the back of his neck at the praise, specifically from Kerry. "Aw, thanks guys."

"That sounds good to me," Alex said with a nod. "Does everybody agree with that?"

"I'm game!" Mikey cheered and there were multiple sounds of agreement.

"Alright, loser pays, let's get started!" Kerry smirked. "Get ready to lose, Losernardo."

"Tch, whatever Medina!"


	17. Presents

Chapter 17

Presents

"I can't believe we lost," Fred muttered as their team sat at the table while the winners were in the arcade.

"You guys suck," Alex teased, having gotten the best score of them all.

"Um, I was pretty hard core, it's the rest of you that sucked." Kerry said haughtily.

"I resent that," Kiley said.

"No, you's resemble dat, Sweets," Erik told her, kissing her cheek. "But so's do I."

"Well, isn't that disgustingly cute," Alex said.

"Completely...I want it," Kerry teased her.

"Don, be disgustingly cute with Kerry," Alex said.

"I-I uh uh I don't know how," Don said looking away embarrassed, looking anywhere but at the dark haired girl next to him.

"Aww," Alex said. "Aren't you just the _cutest_!"

"A-Alex, stop it," Don said under his breath as he ducked his head. "You're embarrassing me."

"That's my job, sweetheart," Alex told him, kissing his cheek. "Okay, time for cake!"

"Cake? Someone say cake?!" They heard Mikey yell from across the entire place.

"How does he do that?" Kiley murmured in amazement.

"Never come between Michelangelo and his food," Don said. "_Ever_."

"Speaking from experience?" Kerry chuckled.

Don shivered. "Don't ask," he told her. On that note all the winners returned to the table, the birthday boys and girls seated in front of two large cakes, one obviously decorated for the boys and one for Alex.

The cake was eaten as the presents were divided into different piles. Alex pile was a little bigger, seeing as most of the people there were there for her, but the guys had a good pile of cards too. That was the majority of what the guys got, other than what the two girls had gotten them. Alex had kept her present for Raph until later, seeing as she was still hesitant about it. She still wasn't sure if he would like it, despite Kerry's insistence that he would.

Alex had opened a card from Emily, Kiley and Erik with a gift card for a spa day, which she looked forward to using on all the girls. She really wanted a massage.

"Nice! We've been talking about going!" Kerry smirked at her.

"Full body massage here I came!" Alex exclaimed excitedly.

"Isn't that Raph's job, Lex?" Emily asked the redhead.

"Behave woman," Kerry said pointing a finger at her.

"Hey, I'm just saying!" Emily said.

Alex went on to open a card with a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods from Phoebe and Rudy. "Thanks guys," Alex said. "I've been needing to get some new clothes."

"No problem," Rudy said.

"You always say you can never have enough workout clothes," Phoebe said smiling.

"True that," Alex said, moving on to the next little box. She opened the card that told her it was from Fred. It was an electronic picture frame with photos of her and Fred in it. Alex blushed, feeling a little uncomfortable with it, even though it was sweet. "Thanks, Freddy," she said.

"No problem, I know you like sentiment above everything else," Fred said smiling at her and ruffling her hair playfully, to which she whined and tried to fix it like a five year old.

"Here you go, Alex!" Mikey exclaimed, handing her their present.

Alex bit her lip, slowly opening the present. Inside was a small Japanese hair piece. The little lotus flowers on it were green and looked delicately elegant. "Oh my God," she muttered, holding it gently in her hands. "It's beautiful guys, thank you!"

"Dad actually picked it out." Leo smiled. "We wanted something like it but couldn't agree on the color or shape."

"Green would look perfect in your hair," Don grinned.

"And bring out your eyes," Mikey said.

Alex bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes slightly. "Thanks guys, it's perfect. I love it."

"Alright, no waterworks. My turn!" Kerry grinned bringing out a bag from behind her back.

Alex took the bag hesitantly. "I'm not going to get my hand bitten if I put it in there, am I?" she asked jokingly.

"Nah, I left the rabid badger in your room instead," Kerry shot back automatically.

"Badgers are cute!" Alex said.

"Just open it!" Kerry scoffed, but she was obviously nervous about her liking it.

Inside sat a dark leather jacket, already broken in and durable. It was one of Kerry's for sure, one of her favorites in fact. Alex slowly pulled it from the box, looking at it further. Dangling from the ends of each sleeve was a tiny, wooden polished hand carving. One sleeve had a hawk, wings spread in flight. The other had a four legged cat like creature, from the markings it was obviously a lynx or bobcat. She must have spend hours hand carving and painting them.

Alex bit her lip, staring at the jacket, unable to look up at Kerry in fear of crying.

"It's one of mine," Kerry murmured sheepishly. "You said you hated it when people bought you something. And the animals are totems. The Hawk is a messenger that stands for, intuition, victory, healing, nobility, recollection, cleansing, visionary power, and guardianship. While the Lynx also stands for guardianship. It also stands for the keeper of secrets, listener, and guide." She peeked at her friend. "Well?" She asked shyly.

Alex set the jacket down and got up off the table she had been sitting on top of. She walked straight up to Kerry, staring at the ground and hugged the black haired girl tightly. "I hate you," she muttered into Kerry's shoulder. "You're making me cry." She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "It's perfect, Kerry. I love it. Thank you so much."

Kerry blushed but smiled brightly. "T-Thanks," She laughed, obviously relieved. "Go big or go home." She joked though Fred was glaring daggers at her. "No problem, Dorkfish."

"I'm sorry to do this guys," one of the workers said, going over to the group. "But it's closing time. You've gotta go."

"Oh but we haven't gotten to the guys yet." Kerry said biting her lip. "We can all go to my place if you guys want to open them." She said looking around the group. "You're all welcome, it's got plenty of room."

"Sounds good to us," Leo said, getting up, helping pick up the presents.

"Unfortunately, we've gotta head home," Kiley said.

"Yeah, my mum wants me home," Phoebe said, as everybody made their way to the exit. "And Rudy's my ride."

"Yeah, and I've gotta work in the morning," Erik said.

"Same," Fred said.

"Oh, well, thanks for coming everybody," Alex said.

"Get home safe." Kerry tacked on as she worked with the guys. "Take whatever food you want too, I won't eat it all." She laughed.

There were various forms of goodnights and goodbyes from the departing party. Several minutes later, Alex and Kerry were standing outside with the guys. A couple feet from them were the girls with Amanda, loitering against the side of the building, grumbling about having gotten kicked out.

"Shit!" Kerry swore. "My car only seats four including the driver."

"It's okay," Raph said. "I brought my bike."

"Yeah, but that still leaves one," Alex said.

"It's part of your present," he told her. "You said you always wanted to ride on one."

"R-Really?" Alex asked, biting her lip excitedly.

"Course, you can even use the Hick's present. Worked out perfectly." He grinned and winked at Kerry, her rolled her eyes good heartedly.

Alex slid on the jacket, showing it off a little. "It's comfy," she said. "How do I look?"

"Just as beautiful as it's previous owner." Kerry said flipping her nonexistent long hair.

"Fruitcake," Alex chuckled.

"Dorkfish. Now go on. I got the other three with me," Kerry said wiggling her keys in the air.

"We'll meet you there," Raph told her.

"Right," Kerry nodded. "Keep her safe," she ordered before waving at the others to follow her.

"Okay," Alex said, turning to Raph after the rest of the group was out of sight. "Ready?" she asked.

"Just hold up a minute," Raph murmurs taking her arm. "I got something else for ya."

Alex blinked a second. "What?" she asked, raising a brow up curious. "Raph, you didn't have to do that. I mean, the hair piece if beautiful. It's more than I could ever ask for."

"I wanted to," Raph said. "And don't worry, I made this one. Kerry even helped me out." He assured her.

_He asked Kerry for help?_ she asked, taking the small box he held out to her. With slightly shaky fingers, Alex opened the box. "Oh my God," she said, pulling out the little leather cord necklace with a little kanji pendant readying Loyalty. "Loyalty," she read. "Raph this is, it's…" she glanced up at him, shocked that he had done that for her. "It's beautiful, Raphael."

"How was it Kerry put it?" he murmured. "I got your seven?"

Alex giggled softly. "Six," she told him, putting the necklace on. "I've got your six."

"Well either way, I'm there, you know. Watchin' out for ya."

"Y-You mean that?" she asked softly.

"'Course I do, Firecracker, you know that," he scoffed.

Alex's blush couldn't have been any darker. "W-Well, I guess this is the perfect time to give you your present then," she said, pulling the little box out of her bag. "Happy birthday, Raph," she told him, handing it to him. "I, uh, hope you like it. I didn't know what to get you, but I saw this and it just kind of reminded me of you so, uh, well, if you don't like it, I can get you something else."

Raph took the little box with a smirk before he slowly opened it. He blinked and pulled out the black cord bracelet. "Shit, Alex, this is legit." He grinned. "Courage." He smiled a bit as he looked over the engraved kanji. "I like it." He smiled honestly.

"You do?" Alex asked, sounding extremely relieved.

"Course I do, I don't wear much jewelry stuff, but this looks awesome. I hear they're also good for wrist support in fighting." Raph smiled as he put it on.

Alex smiled, biting her lip. She was so relieved to hear him say that. She had been so nervous she had gotten him something he wouldn't like. And after the beautiful things he had gotten her, she had been even more anxious about it. But now she couldn't have been happier.

"Happy birthday, Raphael," she told him softly.

"Happy birthday, Firecracker." He grinned and pressed a kiss to her lips since Amanda was only a few feet away.

Raph grabbed her neck, pulling her closer. Alex had been more prepared for that one, having seen him lean in this time and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself closer to him to make it look more believable, though she would have been lying if she had said she didn't want to get closer.

This kiss was longer than the first one that day. Raph's other hand went to Alex's waist, holding her in place as he bit her lip, surprising the female redhead. He smirked, sliding his tongue into her mouth, pressing his flat against hers.

Now, that was an extremely new experience for Alex. The sudden, pleasurable contact made a soft moan escape her lips, surprising both her, Raph and Amanda, who growled and walked away. Both redheads jumped slightly at the sudden outburst and pulled back, slightly dazed.

"Huh, we should uh," Raph started, "go before Miss Hick calls to SWAT team."

"Uh, yeah," Alex muttered, slightly disappointed when he let her go. "Yeah, don't want to keep everybody waiting."

Raph turned and took her arm, leading her to his red bike. The two seater crotch rocket was exactly the kind of bike Alex would have imagined Raph driving. It fit him perfectly.

"S-So, how do we do this?" Alex asked. "I've never done this before."

Raph got on while taking two helmets off the side rack. "Get on behind me and hold on." He snickered. "As simple as that."

Alex bit her lip, thankful that he couldn't' see how red she was with the helmet now on. She got up, leaning forward, pressing her chest against his back while wrapping her arms around him from behind, able to feel his defined muscles through his jacket.

"Hang on," he said laughing before starting up the bike, revving the engine for her, and easing out of it's spot and down the street.

Alex giggled lightly as they went slow for a moment before an eep escaped her lips as Raph suddenly accelerated, causing her to hold on tighters, holding herself against his back tighter. "You did that on purpose!" she called out to him.

"Your point?" He laughed.

"Show off," she muttered, though she knew he couldn't hear that. "I bet you just wanted to feel my boobs on your back!" she accused.

"Nah, I'm more of a leg guy," he joked. "Don and Mikey however..." he teased.

_Oh, you have got to be kidding me_, Alex thought, eyes wide. _Kerry said I was a leg girl..._Alex groaned, hiding her face on Raph's back. _Oh shit..._

"You're not getting sick, are ya?" Raph asked.

She shook her head against his back. "No!" she called out. _A little different than that,_ she thought, hands tightening around him more, feeting the vibrations of the engine under her. _Seriously? We have to talk about this now?_

"Alright, just relax, we're almost there," he said to her.

_Can I _not _show up to the party turned on?_ she thought.

Eventually they pulled up to Kerry's flat building. Raph parking behind her car on the street. Alex got off and took the helmet off, shaking her hair out in hopes that she didn't have helmet hair.

"Chill, you look fine," he murmured to her before sliding off the bike. "It's just my bro's and the hick anyway."

_It's not them I want to look nice for,_ she thought without realizing it. She handed him the helmet back, biting her lip, cheeks still red from the adrenaline and her excitement.

"What's the number again? We've only walked to her building before, never been up to the actual flat," he asked.

"Thirty-six fifty-four," she told him, pushing some hair out of her face.

"Alright, let's go," Raph said and tugged her hair a bit, causing her to jump. "Quit messing with it, it's fine." He groaned.

"Don't _do _that," she muttered to him, face red.

Raph laughed at her. "Yeah yeah sure sure." He waved her off.

"You're the one that said it's your thing," she reminded him. "_I _never said it was."

Raph turned and smirked at her. "I know."

"_Raph_," she gasped, realizing he didn't' just do it to mess with her.

Raph simply laughed at her face as he turned and left her behind. She watched in go for a second before sighing when he was out of earshot. She sat down on the stairs for a moment, running a hand through her hair.

_He's doing that on purpose, _she thought. _But I don't think he get's it's more than that. I-I_, she sighed. _Fuck,_ she realized. _I like him. _

"Yo! The ride get you sick or what?" Raph called out.

"Y-You go up on ahead," she called out. "I'll be up in a minute. I just need some air."

"...Alright," he said unsure at first but went on a head.

Alex sighed again, pulling out her phone to send a text to Kerry.

**Alex: Kill me. **

**HeterosexualPartner: DID YOU CRASH?! WTF ARE YOU!?**

**HeterosexualPartner: Oh wait, Raph's here...**

**HeterosexualPartner: WTF ARE YOU?!**

**Alex: The stairwell**

**HeterosexualPartner: Why?**

**Alex: I like him, Kerry.**

**HeterosexualPartner:...yeah and?**

**Alex: He does all this stuff and doesn't get what it's really doing to me. He teases me and doesn't get that I actually want to make this real, Kerry. **

**HeterosexualPartner:...like Fred.**

Alex's eyes widened, tears starting to well up. _Oh my God, she's right. This is what it feels like? It hurts this much? _

**Alex: I'M A FRED!**

**HeterosexualPartner: The question is are you going to be completely like Fred and let this screw up your relationship or are you going to try and be happy no matter how it turns out in the end?**

Alex set her phone on the ground next to her, wiping the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. She couldn't tell Raph. She got what Fred's intentions were now in not telling her. She couldn't risk her friendship with Raph. She cared about him far too much to risk losing him. She was scared. She couldn't tell him.

**HeterosexualPartner: Would you be able to let go?**

Even more tears rolled out after reading that. She had to bit her lip to prevent herself from making any noise. Would she be able to let go? Or would be turn into Fred? The jealous, unhappy best friend? All she knew was that she wanted Raph to be happy, and if that mean letting him be with someone else, she wouldn't stand in his way. Even if that meant getting hurt while she saw him with another girl.

**Alex: I just want him to be happy, Kerry. **

**HeterosexualPartner: Good. Get up her and make sure of that.**

**Alex: ...I can't…**

**Alex: ….I'm crying...**

**HeterosexualPartner:Mikey is eating everything out of my fridge, his cheeks are like chipmunks. It's an unholy carnage up here.**

Alex snorted, wiping her eyes again. She used the camera on her phone to fix herself before she sent back a text saying she'd be right up. Alex walked right into the apartment as if she lived there herself. She plopped down face first onto the couch, head landing on Kerry's lap.

"Bitch, you are lucky I changed into shorts," Kerry said bopping her head. "Mikey, she's here, you can open presents now." she called.

"_FINALLY_!" he yelled, running into the living room and sliding on the carpet. "Ow! _Rugburn_!"

"I told you not to run in the flat!" Kerry and Leo scolded at the same time.

"Woah, freaky," Don said shying away from the two, but could only go so far since he was next to Kerry and Alex was on his lap as well.

"Annoying in surround sound." Raph grumbled a bit.

"I second that," Alex muttered, grabbing the pillow out from under Kerry's arm and placed it on her lap for her head.

"Alright group presents first," Kerry said sounding like her usual mother hen self.

Leo took charge in opening the presents from the girls' friends. From the Twins and Erik they got a season pass to a go-cart place in town. Mikey and Raph just about blue a gasket in excitement at racing. Don opened the card from Phoebe and Rudy, which happened to be four individual gift cards to the movies. Mikey took up Fred's card and opened it up, the card less enthusiastic as the others and only had cash, but it was better than nothing. 'Easier this way since I didn't know what to get you' the card had said and they boys didn't complain.

"Alright." Kerry smiled softly. "Time or our presents guys. Leo, yours is the big blue box." She said excitedly. "It's a present from both me and Alex."

"Thanks guys." He smiled as he took the gift from the table and opened it, pulling out the old leather book. "Japanese History and Language? This is awesome!" He said as he read over the title. "I appreciate it, girls." He grinned.

"No problem, Leo," Alex told him, a sweet smile in place. Kerry gave a thumbs up with a click of her tongue.

"Raph, mine is the flat red one." She said as the redhead sat up to grab it.

"Where's the one for him from Alex?" Mikey asked innocently.

"Already got it." Raph said flashing his wrist briefly. "I liked it." He smirked at the other red head. He tore at the red paper of his second present carefully. He blinked. "What is it?" He frowned.

"Decal for your bike idiot. I designed it myself, it's a scorpion." Kerry grinned.

"That's awesome!" Raph grinned, "Thanks ya Hick."

"Dick." Kerry scoffed at him.

"Dude!" Mikey yelled. "Where did you guys get these? I've been looking for these for years!" he said, referring to the set of comics they had gotten him.

"I know a guy upstate," Alex said. "Pay a guy enough and he'll turn, Don."

Don opened up his Popular Mechanics and smiled brightly. "Sweet! I was waiting to get ungrounded before I could finally reorder these. Thanks guys!"

"I um, actually got you something else too" Kerry said to Donnie. She got up, plopping Alex's head on the couch, leaving her spot. Raph quickly took her seat, tired of sitting on the floor. He lifted Alex's head and sat down before placing her head back down, causing her to blush and hide her face in the pillow as his hand subconsciously played with her hair.

She came back, shyly holding something behind her back. "Other than the magazines." She said to Alex's shock. "I made something."

"R-Really? Y-You didn't have to do that, Kerry," Don stammered, blush firmly in place, getting up too, nearly knocking Alex off the couch.

"I wanted too. Here," she said handing it over to him, wrapped in a purple cloth instead of regular present bags or wrapping. Don lightly unfolded it and held it up. It was a Native American medicine pouch, handcrafted as well from leather. It was a dark brown with purple beadings decorating the opening clasp. Black metal feathers dangled from the string, catching the light perfectly. In the main stone had the imprint of a bare on it, painted in black and purple.

"K-Kerry you-"

"The feathers are representative of crow totems. It represents justice, shapeshifting, change, creativity, spiritual strength, energy, community sharing, and balance." She interrupted, nerves getting to her. "While the bear represents industrious, instinctive, healing, power, sovereignty, guardian of the world, watcher, courage, will power, self-preservation, introspection, and great strength." Kerry rattled off absentmindedly, remembering perfectly all she had read, and what her mom told her. She remembers everything he mother ever told her. "Inside is sage and sweetgrass, meant to cleanse and bring good thoughts respectively-" Oh goodness she's rambling again.

"T-This must have taken you forever," he muttered, staring at the necklace pouch with large eyes. "I-I don't know what to say," he said.

"I've had practice, and actually it's kinda incomplete," Kerry said looking down. "I know it's really weird and-"

Don did something none of them though he'd do. He pulled the black haired girl into a tight hug. Kerry's eyes went wide, and her cheeks flushed. She eventually smiled and hugged him back, arms going around his neck.

"So...you like it?" Kerry asked into his shoulder.

"I love it, Kerry," he told her. "I-It's incredibly thoughtful. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome Don," Kerry said smiling at him as if he had just told her he cured cancer.

Alex looked away from the two, feeling as if it were a private moment though clearly happy for the two. She felt Raph's hand tighten in her hair and she glanced up to see that his eyes were on his brother and the girl. It wasn't like he was glaring at them though, more studying. Alex didn't understand the look. Concerned, she placed her hand on Raph's leg, making him shiver slightly and look down at her with the same look in his eyes.

"Huh?" he asked her.

"You okay?" she asked him softly.

"Yeah, yeah just thinking," he murmured softly, patting her hair.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, flipping over so she was on her back now, head still resting on the pillow on his lap.

"Nah, my thoughts are worth more than that," he chuckled. "You couldn't afford it."

Alex's face fell slightly. _Shake it off, Alex,_ she told herself. _He didn't mean it like that. He didn't mean that you're not important enough to share it no matter how precious or stupid the thoughts are. _"Right," she muttered more to herself than to him. "But you know you can tell me when something's on your mind, right?" she asked him, sitting up slowly. "I'm always here to listen. No matter what it is."

"Yeah, it's just not a big deal." Raph scoffed a bit. "Nothing worth noting."

"Are you sure?" she asked, shifting so that she was facing him. She gently placed her hand on his arm. "I mean, a minute ago you were all joking. Now you're all quiet."

"Alex, I swear I'm fine." Raph sighed a bit. "Really."

"But you would tell me if you weren't?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah, I promise." He rolled his eyes slightly.

Alex took the eye rolling as a sign she was annoying him. "Right," she said. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"You're not bothering me, really," Raph said peeking at her. "You're fine."

Alex bit her lip, feeling a little more at ease from hearing that. "Okay, I just, you know, _smile_," she said, taking his hand in her's. "You should smile. It's your birthday."

"Just cause I'm not smiling doesn't mean I'm not happy." Raph shrugged. "Not everyone is a smiler, you know?"

"You're a smiler," she said with a smile of her own playing on her lips. "You just don't like to admit it. You look nicer when you smile, you know."

"We'll compromise? A smirk. I'll smirk." He chuckled.

Alex rolled her eyes, a small laugh sounding from her throat. "Alright," she said. "I guess I can settle with that."

"Good."


	18. Halloween

Chapter 18

Halloween

"I can't believe I let you convince me to actually go out in public in this," Alex muttered.

"Oh please," Kerry scoffed crossing her arms. "We have more clothes on than almost every other girl on the street combined."

Alex wrapped her arms around herself, feeling extremely chilled. Kerry hadn't let her wear her jacket either, saying it ruined the costume. Didn't she get it was forty degrees outside? Sure, they'd be arrive at Franco's in a couple minutes, but that didn't mean Alex wasn't freezing her ass off.

The two girl's had gone with a DC comic book villain theme. Kerry fit her role perfectly as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, better known as her psycho counterpart Harley Quinn. She had to wear a wig, but instead of blonde she had gone with half black and half red pigtails like from the Suicide Squad series. In loo of the unitard from old comics Kerry had chosen a more recent adaptation. Arkham City was a favorite game of her's so she had to dress in the leather black and red pants with matching corset top, chains hanging down on her legs. This was something she would wear all the time if allowed too, some of the choker necklace actually being her jewelry to begin with. The red and black arm guards and fingerless gloves were also really durable. They'd be good in a fight. Kerry was a pro at make up, knowing just the right amount to apply to look dark and rather insane.

Alex, on the other hand, was dressed (though is anybody asked her, this was _not _called dressed!) as Poison Ivy, primarily because of her deep red hair. Her hair was left down in it's natural slight wavy style, hanging down over bare shoulders. Around her chest was a tight, figure flattering green corset with leaf detailing, making her look like she actually had a good deal of chest. She wore a leotard for her bottoms, though her legs were covered in deep green sheer tights. On her arms were deep green fingerless gloves with the same type of leaf detailing. She had clear high heels on, painting to get the compliment heels gave her legs, but aiming to go with a semi-barefoot look. Around her neck was the necklace Raph had given her. She knew it didn't go with the outfit, and Kerry told her to take it off, but she hadn't taken it off. She didn't want to.

Her makeup took a while to do. She had deep green eyeshadow around her eyes while her lips were a deep red. Since her skin tone was so pale and white, it make everything stick out even more.

"I still can't believe you wouldn't let me bring my severed joker face prop." Kerry pouted. "I worked so hard on it!"

"We're going to give the other customers at Franco's a heart attack as it is," Alex said. "We don't need the freaking head."

"It was just a face," Kerry corrected. "Not an entire head. It's from Suicide Squad! Where she staples Joker's dead face to-" God she could be just as bad as Mikey.

"_So_ not the point, Kerry," Alex interrupted.

"It looked so bad ass though!" she whined.

"Drop it," Alex grumbled. "You already got me out here in _this_. You're not getting _anything else_."

"You are a crusher of fangirl wonder and merriment!" Kerry said throwing her arms in the air. "Crusher, Red, Crusher!" She said in a pretty good imitation of Harley.

"You really are nuts," Alex said.

"Duh, why do you think I'm Harley?" She scoffed.

"To scare me because I hate clowns?" Alex said.

"Harley isn't a clown, the Joker is. Harley is a type of marionette."

Alex waved Kerry off, holding the door open for her when they finally made it to Franco's. "Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes. "Still creepy."

"Get your Facts straight, Red," Kerry scoffed.

"Come on," Alex said, grabbing her arm before they even got a table and ate. "Let's dance first!"

"Definitely!" Kerry said. Ever since her first time there she had grown more comfortable dancing. She loved it in fact.

Their style of dancing was that of typical clubbers. There was jumping, swinging hips and grinding, oh so much grinding. The first song on when the two got out there was Take It Off by Kesha. It was the perfect song for the two girls to dance together to. It fit their costumes perfectly. Kerry lowed to shimmy and drop down, arms in the air, giggling even though people stared at them.

"People are staring," Alex muttered.

"So? Let them! They think it's hot! And they're just jealous, Red!" Kerry laughed a bit as she spun around her friend. She then wrapped her arms around Alex's neck, Alex rolled her eyes at the comment and placed her hands on Kerry's hips, just having fun dancing and messing around.

"Whatever you say," she muttered, flipping her hair. Alex turned around, around of Kerry's hold and lowered her head, rolling it back at forth as she grinded up again Kerry. "Then I guess we should give them something to talk about if they're going to stare anyways!"

"Ahaha, now you're speaking my language, Red!" 'Harley' laughed.

"Are you hungry yet?" Alex asked her.

"When am I not hungry?" Kerry laughed as she grinded right back at her.

Alex rolled her head and flipped her hair again. "Do you want to get a table?"

"Yeah, the later it get the more likely it is to fill up." Kerry nodded as she stepped away.

The two girls headed in the direction of the table they normally went to, facing each other as they talked and made their way there. It wasn't until they were almost there and looked to see if it was open that both girls froze, happy and carefree expressions no longer on their faces.

"Oh shit," Alex muttered.  
"F-Fuck." Kerry murmured face palming in embarrassment as she felt four pair of familiar eyes peering at them with dropped jaws.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Alex yelled, handing going to her face to cover her embarrassment, as well as hiding her chest slightly.

"We were eating pizza," Mikey muttered, staring at Kerry's chest, then Alex's legs, then back to Kerry's chest. "But then we got a show."

"_Michelangelo_!" Leo scolded though he wouldn't meet the girls eyes, them lingering on them a little too long.

"Oh my God! I can't believe this is happening," Alex said, hiding her face even more.

"I-I uhh," Kerry said looking away, messing with her hair in embarrassment and she peeked at familiar brown eyes. The poor nerd was frozen in place. He kept opening and closing his mouth as if trying to talk.

"That was the hottest thing I have ever seen in my life," Mikey stated despite being scolded.

"Oh my god, they must think we are such sluts!" Kerry hissed to her friend.

"You were the one that made us dress up!" Alex told her. "I wanted to do a crappy scary movie marathon!"  
"I didn't expect _them_ to be here! And they have costumes on too!" Kerry retorted. "Aww Don's the Doctor! Cute!" she said absentmindedly.

"So not the time, Kerry," Alex hissed. She quickly turned to the guys and said, "Well, nice seeing you guys. We're going to go die under a rock. Bye!"

"No you don't!" Mikey yelled, getting out of the booth, climbing over Raph. "Sit! Come on, eat with us! It's not that big of a deal, right guys? It was just a little, extremely sexy dancing."

"Not helping, Mikey" Alex muttered, allowing herself to get pulled along.

"Oh god." Kerry bemoaned still just wanting to go to the bathroom and cry. Alex saw this and grabbed her hand, giving her a squeeze. Kerry looked at her and calmed down a bit. She was always so worried about what little true friends she had thought of her. If the guys just thought of her as a slut she would just die!

Mikey pushed Kerry down next to Don, who glanced up at Kerry, having regained a little bit of control and gave her a sweet, extremely red faced smile. "Hi Kerry," he said shyly.

"Hi Donnie," Kerry said just as shyly, settling down next to him. "Or should I say Doctor?"

He chuckled a little. "Don's okay too," he added quickly. "If you don't want to."

"I think either one suits you fine. You make a wonderful Time Lord." She grinned at him.

"You think so?" he asked. "Not too shy?"

"You are brilliant." She said quoting the show. "You rock the 10th Doctor's look! You're also brave and smart. So I'd travel time and space with you anytime," she said, her own embarrassment fading as she tried to ease his own.

"Thanks Kerry," he said. "And Harley would make an interesting companion."

"Oh well you know, blondes are more fun," she said in her Harley voice. "Unlike Red overthere."

Alex felt more comfortable having heard Kerry and Don's conversation, getting pushed down next to Raph and Mikey. "Hey," she protested. "What's wrong with me? Redheads are _spicy_!

"You got that right," Raph murmured still looking at her oddly.

"What?" she asked him self consciously, referring to his odd look.

"It's just, I never," he said at a loss of words. "Holy Shit Firecracker I didn't know you had it in you."

Alex but her lip, hiding her face with her hair. "I think I should take offence to that," she thought. "I think?"

"No no no it's uh, a pleasant surprise?" Raph asked as he adjusted his suspender straps on his costume.

In doing that action, Alex's eyes trailed over his simple Firefighters costume. He wore a simple and extremely tight against his muscles NYFD shirt, under bright red suspenders that connected to heavy tan pants. His hair was spiked up, like it normally was and other than the suspenders, he really didn't look all that different.

"Nice suspenders," she giggled, looping her finger under one of them. She pulled back and let it snap back against his chest.

"Ow! Watch it." He chuckled. "Nice leave-" he cut off, mid word.

"What?" Alex asked him.

"You're wearing the necklace?" he murmured as he looked at it.

Alex gumped, instinctively clasping her hand around the necklace. "Uh, Well, yeah," she stammered. "I, uh, always were it," she admitted embarrass.

"U-Uh." Raph said before holding up his wrist. "Same," he said looking away.

Alex's eyes stuck on his left right, the one closest to her, that had the bracelet she gave to him on. She bit her lip. _He always wears it? _she asked herself. Her hands went to his wrist before she knew what she was doing, pulling his hand closer to her as she fiddled with it slightly, turning it and running her fingers over the kanji. Because of her fiddling, his hand was placed on her leg rather high up, but she didn't really notice due to her mind repeating the thought, _He wears it all the time._

"Uh Alex?" Raph said looking at her weird.

"Hmm?" she hummed, glancing up at him through her lanches.

"What are you doing?" he asked slowly.

"O-Oh, uh, I, uh," she muttered face fifty shades of red, glancing down. _Maybe it doesn't really mean anything._ She let go, putting her hand in her lap. "Sorry."

"It's cool," Raph murmured looking away. "U-Uh Don practically sleeps with that pouch the hick gave him," he said quickly as if in a hurry to change the subject.

Her head instantly shot up. "_Really_?" she asked. "That's a good sign."

"Yeah," Raph nodded, "I see him fiddling with it all the time. In fact I think it's tucked under the collar of his shirt now," he said nodding to his brother.

Alex glanced up, but because of the spot she was sitting in, she had to lean in closer to Raph to get a look. He was, in fact, wearing it, though he did a very good job at keeping it out of sight. Alex sat back and looked back up at Raph. "You're right," she said. "He is. Isn't that sweet?"

"U-Uh yeah," Raph said clearing his throat. "He believes it really does give him happier thoughts, you know? But of course I don't think it's the necklace doing that." He chuckled a bit.

Alex laughed along with him. "No, I don't think it is," she muttered, seeing how happy her best friend was talking to the genius brunet. "He must really like her to wear it all the time," she muttered, not realizing what she was admitting.

"Yeah," Raph murmured looking at her. "He really must like her...the hick I mean."

"She really likes him too," Alex told him, staring at Kerry. "She's scared though," she said, glancing back up into Raph's green. "I don't know why. I mean, it's _Don_."

"Don has his own problems too, not dissing him or anything. The guy is great. But everyone has issues. Maybe the hi- Kerry has some too." Raph shrugged, eyes looking at her friend a bit suspiciously.

"You're not the first person to say that about her," Alex admitted sadly.

"What do you mean?" Raph asked eyes narrowing.

"Fred says she's hiding things," she said. "But then again, it's Freddy. We haven't exactly been on the best terms lately. And he never did like Kerry from the get go. But he was right about part of it, at least. She get's bullied at school a lot," she admitted. Her hand instantly went to her mouth. "I didn't say that! Oh my God, I didn't just say that!"

"He did what?" Raph asked. He didn't like Fred to begin with and now he's hearing that he's been trash talking his best friend's best friend and his brothers crush. "And what do you mean bullied a lot?" He asked.

"You know," she said, "because she's from the south. Because she's Native American. Stupid things. But it hurts. I mean, you know what Amanda said to me and what it did. Imagine how Kerry feels. She came here, a new place, no friends. I can't imagine how hard that was. I'm just glad she's got us."

"God you guys are so much a like!" Raph growled a bit. "She's just sitting there isn't she? Letting them make fun of things she can't help, and and, shit I've been calling her Hick." He said rubbing his temple slightly.

"I don't think it bothers her when you call her it, that much," Alex thought, gently rubbing his arm. "I mean, you're her friend. You use it more in an endearing way. Kind of like how you call me Butch or Firecracker. Or how I call you Hothead."

"It's meant to the be that way," Raph said seriously. "I just want to make sure she's cool with it. Those kind of things build up on the inside and usually don't come out healthily. I know from experience," he said talking about his temper.

"I think she's been a little better since I got her to talk to me about it," Alex said.

"As long as you're sure." Raph said nodding.

"Honestly?" Alex asked, glancing over at Kerry. "I'm never sure with her. But she knows I'm here. And for right now, that's all I can ask for."

"Yeah," Raph said glancing at all his brothers. "It really is."

"And, uh, I just wanted to thank you again," she said. "Y-You were, uh, actually the one to help me with all of that stuff," she muttered, hesitantly taking his hand and interlocking their fingers. "Thanks."

"Really?" Raph asked. "I mean, I didn't do much."

"Maybe it doesn't seem like it to you, but it was a lot to me," Alex said. "What Amanda says hurts. _A lot._ But then you were there. And at the time I thought you hated me. And you stood for me to someone you didn't even know, telling me that I _couldn't _believe what she was saying. And, _that's _the reason why I stood up for myself that same day this whole thing started."

"I was just telling you the truth you needed to hear," he murmured softly.

"But if you hadn't, I wouldn't have done anything. I'd believe everything she tells me. I mean, she still does it, but, _you know_," Alex said with a shrug.

"Hey," Raph said patting the back of her hand. "I got it," he said simply, smiling. "I got it." Raph seemed to want to change the subject now. "Though, you give her plenty of fuel by dancing like that with Kerry," he said teasing her.

Alex huffed, backhanding him hard in the stomach. "You weren't supposed to _see _that," she muttered, looking away in embarrassment.

"Well I did. But I guess it's less embarrassing to do it with another girl. Not like you would do it with a guy." Raph grunted a bit.

Alex's face was beet red. Well, she most likely wouldn't. But the fact that Raph pointed it out irritated her. It was just more intimate with a guy, she thought. Dancing with Kerry was fun. They were best friends. It didn't _mean _anything. "So?" she torted. "So what if I don't? What's wrong with that?"

"It's not really that out there if it's with a girl." Raph shrugged with a laugh.

"Are you saying I don't have the guts to do it?" she asked, glaring at him.

"Neither of you do!" Raph chuckled.

She growled. "Kerry did you hear what he just said?"

"Uh, no. Me and Mikey were discussing comics," Kerry said looking up. "What's the dealio?"

"Raph's saying we don't have the balls to dance like we did with a guy," she scoffed.

"U-Uh yeah." Kerry said staring at her friend with wide eyes, realizing what she intended. "Alex NO! We have embarrassed ourselves enough for one night!"

"I am not going to sit here and be called a wus," Alex said. She got up and turned to Raph, glare firmly in place. She leaned in close to his face, noses practically touching. "You're on," she growled, grabbing his suspenders and pulling him up out of the booth.

"On what?" Raph asked confused.

"Shit! I can't let her do this alone." Kerry groaned.

"I'll dance with you, Kerry!" Mikey smiled standing up and taking her arm gently. "Let's go!"

"No!" Don yelled. "You've had _enough _excitement for tonight, Mikey!" Don turned to Kerry and slowly stood up. "I-I'll dance with you, Kerry."

"Y-You will?" Kerry blinked at him in shock. Don didn't say anything as he took Kerry's hand gently and pulled her out of the booth.

"I-I'm afraid I don't know how to do this," Don said softly before peeking at her. "..teach me?" He asked softly.

Kerry blushed darker as she looked at him before nodding. "Y-Yeah, of course, Doctor." She smiled wickedly.

Alex pushed Raph backwards, he took several steps back, ending up on the dance floor as as new song started to play over the speakers. S&amp;M by Rihanna rang through the the place, causing Alex to smirk. _Perfect_, she thought.

_Na na na. Come on. Na na na. Come on. Na na na na na. Come on. Na na na. Come on. Come on. _

Alex pushed Raph once more, further out onto the dance floor, before she forcefully grabbed his suspenders, stopping his backwards walk.

"U-Uh Alex what are we?" Raph asked his face as red as his hair. "W-What are you?"

She moved in close, still needing to stand on her toes despite the heels in order to be eye to eye with him. "Proving you wrong," she said slowly and low.

"A-Alex, it was a joke," Raph said in a hurry. "There's no need to-"

Alex turned her back to him, still holding onto his suspenders, practically pulling them down over _her _shoulders as she pressed up against him and gave one swift roll of her hips, effectively shutting him up for the moment.

"A-Alex!" He said in a strangled gasp.

_Na na na. Come on. Na na na. Come on. Na na na na na. Come on. Na na na. Come on. Come on. Na na na na._

"Okay," Kerry breathed slowly as she made it up next to Alex and Raph. "Well, I'm not going to uh scare you for life. So we'll do a basic one kay?" She encouraged trying to smile at Don gently.

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered. "That sounds perfect."

Kerry slowly turned so her back was to Donatello, his eyes trailing down the line of her spine, causing him to shiver a bit. She took his hands and gently pulled him close so he was up against her. He placed his hands on her hips. Slowly she then lifted her hands up to gently tangle into his hair. She pressed back against him before rolling her hips, slower than Alex had.

_Feels so good being bad. There's no way I'm turning back. Now the pain is my pleasure, cause nothing could measure. _

Using the beat to her advantage, Alex rolled her hips four times for each little phrase against Raph. She let go of the suspenders, snapping them back. Her hands moved up to his neck though her back was still to his front, pulling his face closer down to her neck and shoulders as she rocked against him.

"Alex!" he panted against her neck, his hands grabbing her hips. Though he wasn't exactly pushing her off. "What the heck? I was joking!

"Does this seem like a joke to you?" she told him, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"I didn't think you'd act like this!" he murmured as he slowly eased into the dance, his brain finally catching up.

"Exactly," she said. "You didn't _think_."

_Love is great, love is fine. Out the box, out of line. The affliction of the feeling leaves me wanting more. _

Kerry started Don out slowly, the pace smooth and easy as her fingers gently ran through his hair, trying to comfort him or drive him mad?

Don moaned at the feeling, though he didn't realize it. He bit down on his lip as he returned her grind.

"This okay?" Kerry asked him, face red as the vibrations from his moan caused shivers down her sensitive spine. Dang it Alex, this is why she didn't grind a guy! "We can stop if you're uncomfortable at any time." she said in concern.

Don shook his head slightly, leaning into her fingers, pulling her closer. "N-No," he said. "I wanna learn. A-Always looking to try new things."

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air. I don't care. I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me. _

"Geeze, maybe I should think less often than," Raph murmured as his hand trailed up her arm a bit as they danced.

Alex didn't say anything to that. Her face had never been more red, but she wasn't going to stop. Not now. She had a point to prove. She rolled her hips one more time with Raph's before she dropped down, rubbing against him as she moved to the floor on the word 'bad' and making her way back up at the word 'good.'

"Where the hell did you learn to do this?" Raph moaned a bit, hand itching to play with her hair as she ran her body down his.

Alex bit her lip, turning around to face him. Much like how Kerry had done to Alex earlier, she placed her hands on Raph's neck, bringing her chest closer to his. "Maybe I'm just a natural," she said.

"No such thing." Raph murmured to her as his arm went around her waist and a hand rested on her ribcage automaticly.

Noses touching Alex's green eyes which seemed to darked, showed just how serious she was being when she said, "You might just be wrong about that."

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air. I don't care. I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me. _

Kerry slowly relaxed with Don behind her, his hands reassuring her somehow as they ground against each other. She noted they were at the perfect height difference, his head would have been able to perfectly rest on her head. She released one hand from his hair and trailed down his arm to rest on his hand on her hip, lacing her smaller fingers through his as she did a sudden pop with her hip to the side, followed by a swift grind.

"I'm doing okay?" Don asked her in her ear. Kerry shivered slightly before nodding, turning her head so her nose brushed along his jawline.

"Y-Yeah, perfect," Kerry said smiling a bit. "You're a fast learner." She said.

"I-I have a good teacher," he complimented her, a shy smile on his face.

"Maybe we're just good together?" She asked without thinking.

"Perfect together," he answered her, extremely happy to hear her say that.

_Na na na. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Na na na. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. _

Alex slowly moved her hands up from his neck, tangling them up in his hair, gently rubbing his head for a moment, making him relax into it before she smirked and grabbed, tugging his red hair.

Raph gave a slightly grunt as her hands delved into his locks and pulled. His green eyes locked her into place. "You shouldn't have done that, Butch," he said one hand trailing down, past her hip and grasping her thigh, bringing it up his leg move. "Plan your move carefully." He warned in her ear.

Alex smirked, knowing fully well what to do. She moved to his neck and kissed the skin there for a moment, shocking him seeing as they had never done any kind of that kissing before before biting down on the soft skin, at the same time as she moved her foot, rubbing the inside of his leg, having read that many men found that incredibly pleasing.

"F-Fuck ALex!" he said and his other hand went up, sliding into her red hair. "I told you to watch it." He moaned.

She bit down again before chuckling, making him feel the vibration of her laugh. "Oh _Babe_," she said, breath on his neck. "You're not going to win this one."

"I'm a sore loser, you'll regret this, O'Neil." He grumbled as his lips brushed her forehead as he spoke.

"Oh," she said against his neck. "I don't think I will."

"I'll make you."

_Love is great, love is fine. Out the box, out of line. The affliction of the feeling leaves me wanting more. _

Kerry slowly rotated her hips as she twisted down to the ground, out of his grasp for a second.

Don gasped, eyes widening at the move. He gulped, hoping that his reaction wouldn't in any way discourage her, offend her, or make her _stop_.

Kerry couldn't help but smile as she slid back up, turning around so she was facing him, arms around his neck. It was then she felt something poking her chest. "Are you wearing the pouch I got you?" she asked softly as she guided his hands into the correct position.

Don gulped, cheeks even more red than before. "Y-Yeah," he told her. "I, uh, wear it all the time."

Kerry smiled brightly as her hands went into his hair again, leaning up on her tiptoes as she ground against him to brush noses with him. "Good." she said cutely. "I'm glad you like it." she said as her face burrowed into the crook of his neck, hands massaging his head.

"I love it, Kerry," he whispered to her.

"What about the dancing?" She joked to him as one of her legs slid between his briefly, rubbing the inside of one of them. "Do you like that or is it weird?"

He shook his head frantically. "Not weird," he said. "Intriguing." He murmured slowly to her, her self barely able to hold back a squeak. D-Donnie?!

_Na na na. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Na na na. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. _

Alex stepped away from Raph with a smirk. She grabbed the suspenders again and pulled him to her, turning around and dropping against in a very quick motion, hands leaving the suspenders, making their way to his sides and all way down his body as she dropped.

Instead of quickly going back up like she had last time, Alex slowly straightened her legs, raising her waist while the top half of her was still bend down before she whipped up, flipping her hair, knowing very well that Raph had his thing for hair and legs.

Raph growled a bit as he fought back a noise of satisfaction. He ground against her and when she came back up he gripped her hair, giving it a little pull.

Alex managed to mask her small moan with a chuckle, glancing behind her to his face, smirk firmly in place. "Can take the heat, Fireman?"

"I am the heat," Raph said as he pulled her flush against him fingers trailing up her rib cage, tracing shapes in the thin fabric. "You going to get burned one of these days."

"Not tonight," Alex said. "I'm Aloe. But you?" She turned around, moving back to face him. "You, Baby, are going to have an itch you can't scratch."

"...STD?" Raph asked jokingly a bit raising an eyebrow playfully at her.

Alex rolled her eyes but smirked, stepping forward with one of her legs, pressing it between his "Fight Engine."

"A little close for comfort there." Raph hissed a bit, easing her back.

"Itch," she muttered against his neck. "Can't." Bite. "Scratch."

_S-S-S and M-M-M. S-S-S and M-M-M.I love the feeling you bring to me. Oh, you turn me on. It's exactly what I've been yearning for. Give it to me strong And meet me in my boudoir. Make my body say ah, ah, ah. I like it. Like it. _

Kerry gave a sudden gasp as Don's hand ran along her back, causing her to press against him tightly so she didn't fall over. Oh god, she could just go and die why did she pick a corset that perked her boobs up more? She didn't need it! Why!?

"I-I'm sorry! Did I, did I do something wrong? I'm sorry!" Don frantically got out.

"N-No," Kerry said, southern accent returning. "You didn't, Darlin. It's just, I have a hypersensitive back, it makes me shiver. It feels good, just um, too good," she said embarrassment.

"O-Oh," Don said with a blush. "I-I'm sorry if I made this uncomfortable for you."

Kerry couldn't help but smirk a bit as her head rested against his shoulder as she gave a sharp twist against him, pressing up closer to him. "Don, _believe me_, you don't make me uncomfortable, quite the opposite." she said and on impulse pressed her lips light as a feather against his neck, right under his jaw. "_Relax."_

"I am," he said. "I always am with you." he murmured his mind blank at the somewhat kiss.

'_That makes one of us'_

_Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air. I don't care. I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me. Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air. I don't care. I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me. _

As Alex was lowering herself from Raph's neck, she managed to see over his shoulder, her eyes catching a little blonde playboy bunny. The girl groaned, head falling onto Raph's chest, hands still up on his neck.

"What's wrong?" Raph asked automaticly, his hands tightening, but this time in a protective manner.

"Speaking of STDs, there's one behind us," she answered.

Raph groaned. "Playboy bunny slut?"

"The very one," she said.

"She ruins every fun night we have together with my bros!" He hissed a bit.

"Hey," Alex said, hands moving to his arms, squeezing them gently, thumbs rubbing circles into his skin. "I wouldn't say it's ruined," she said. "I'm still having fun."

"She'll say something to you or Kerry and you'll both get upset. Not a fun night for me. I don't like people screwing my friends over." He grumbled protectively.

One of her hands moved to his cheek, rubbing it gently. "Doesn't mean everything before that was any less enjoyable," she told him. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah I guess." Raph grumbled. "Doesn't mean I like her showing up at the best part." He grumbled.

_B-Best part?_ Alex's blush increased ten fold. _This is the best part?_ "Well, if she's going to ruin it anyway, why don't we _really _piss her off?"

"Hell ya." Raph smirked as he pulled her closer by her hips and grinded harder against her.

Alex bit her lips, eyes going closed. The movement had sent a sensation she had never imagined go through her. "Not what I mean, hothead," she said, eyes still closed.

"Well sorry, you gave me an itch." He teased.

"Oh, that itch isn't going to get any better with this," she laughed, quickly pulling him down by his suspenders, crashing her lips into his. She didn't wait for permission to enter his mouth. Her tongue was there instantly, pressing flat up against his.

Raph groaned a bit, hand going into her hair as he kissed her harder, sucking at her tongue a bit, receiving a throaty moan from the girl.

_Na na na. Come on. Come on. Come on. I like it. Like it. Come on. Come on. Come on. I Come on. I like it. Like it. S-S-S and M-M-M. S-S-S and M-M-M. S-S-S and M-M-M. S-S-S and M-M-M._

Kerry's hand slipped into Don's free one, lacing their fingers together as she pressed against him harder as she did a low twist slowly down before rising again, shivering at the hand in the small of her back.

"Thank you, Kerry," Don told her, turning her around. "That was a lot of fun."

"I-I uh, well, uh." Kerry stuttered, having gone blank. "You're welcome, but shouldn't I thank you, I mean, you offered to dance with me and all."

Don shrugged. "Yeah, but you needed a partner an- _whoa_," he said, catching sight of the heated kiss between Raph and Alex. "T-They are still faking this, right?"

"I don't know anymore." Kerry blinked in shock. "But-" Kerry suddenly froze. "Oh shit." she muttered under her breath, looking around in a panic.

"What?" Don asked her. "What's wrong?"

"They only kiss in front of Amanda," Kerry said to him, voice cracking a bit. "That means she's here." No no no! She just had the time of her life she didn't want that taken from her!

Alex and Raph parted slightly, breathing heavy from both the dancing and the kissing. To try and regain some of her composure, Alex glanced around Raph, seeing that Amanda was heading over to where Kerry and Don were dancing, or standing, seeing as the music had stopped.

"Oh shit," Raph said with wide eyes, seeing his brother in the bunny's line of sight.

Alex took his hand and they quickly made their way over there, getting there just as Amanda was.

"Hey there Hillbilly," Amanda said tugging at Kerry's wig. "Why don't you show everyone your rain dance? Maybe then you can wash off the slutty make up." she said obviously in a mad mood from seeing Alex and Raph kiss.

Alex's mouth fell open and she had to grab Raph's arm to stop him from going to Amanda and doing who knew what. Alex stepped in front of him, Kerry and Don. Alex glanced back at Kerry. Kerry kept her back to Amanda, head down in silence, taking the usual abuse from her classmate. Her form gave a slight shiver.

_She's going to just stand there and take it?_ Alex shook her head. _No. Not my Kerry._ Alex turned her attention back to Amanda, a killer glare in her eyes.

"What?" Amanda scoffed. "I thought you'd know better than to coddle the stupid, Alex. Damn Rez Brat." Kerry winced a bit arms going around her self. She just wanted to go home now. All thoughts of romance and run gone. Don, gently took her hand in his. She glanced at him before looking away, was that ...shame on her face?

"Oh, she is far smarter than you could ever dream of being," Alex spat.

"Oh whatever. I thought you were bad, god she's even worse!" Amanda said, only going after Kerry now because Alex didn't seem to bothered by her anymore.

"_She's_ bad?" Alex scoffed. "Please, have _you _looked in a mirror?"

"I look fine, beautiful even," Amanda said.

"You won't be when I break your nose," Alex threatened. "_Back. Off_."

"_I _belong here. _She's never going to have a place here," _Amanda said pointing to her angrily.

Alex couldn't take it. She pulled back her arm and swiftly punched Amanda in the noise, the loud crack seeming to echo to the group when in reality they were the only ones to hear it over the music. Kerry looked up and turned around in shock, in time to see her long time tormentor bleeding from the nose. Amanda swore and collapsed to her knees.

"A-Alex?" she said in shock.

Alex bent down, keeling next to the girl. "You listen to me, and you listen to me good. I'm not going to repeat myself," Alex told the girl, her voice cold and even. "If I ever, _ever_, hear, see, or even think you're tormenting _my best friend,_ or _anybody_, I. Will. _Ruin_. You. And I'm not just talking about your face. Your so called friends won't talk to you. I'll bring your parents into this. And don't even get me started with Arthur."

"You can't do this to me." Amanda cried to her. "You're going to regret this, Alex O'Neil. I'll make sure of it!"

"You didn't think I'd stand up for myself either," Alex said. "You didn't think I'd get a boyfriend. Do you _really _want to take that chance?"

Amanda glared up at her. "I'm warning you." She said in a growl.

"No, I'm warning _you_," Alex spat. "_Back the fuck off._"

"This isn't over," Amanda growled. "I'll have the last laugh." She said as she stood up and stormed off.

"A-Alex, why did you...?" Kerry asked, sounding not as bold as she normally did around the guys, causing Raph too look at her oddly.

Alex turned to Kerry and instantly pulled her into a hug. "Why do you think, Fruitcake?" she whispered to her. "I love you, Kerry. And I'm not going to stand back and listen to someone say things like that to you. I'm not going to let them hurt you."

Kerry only sniffed in response, tears falling down her cheeks again. No no no not in front of the guys, or Don, or heck even strangers. No no no! Kerry hiccuped as she tried to pull it all back in.

"You beat me to it, Alex," Don told her, expression darker than either girls had ever seen it. "I was that close to hitting her." Alex let go of Kerry slightly, allowing for her to turn and see the guys. "Kerry? Are you okay?"

Kerry blinked at him, wanting to hide her face a bit. "Y-Yeah, it's nothing," she said out of habit. "I'm okay."

Don took her hand, pulling her out of Alex's hold the rest of the way and pulled her to him, slightly surprising them. "You know none of us believe any of what she was saying, right? You are one of the smartest, funniest girl's I've ever met and you belong right here with us, in our misfit group."

"D-Donnie I-I," Kerry said waterworks about to start again. She shook her head before throwing her arms around his neck tightly hugging him. "Thanks. To all of you. I love you all so much."

"You're family, Kerry," Alex said. "And family sticks together."

"I, uh, guess the fun's over," Don said. "W-Would you like me to walk you home, Kerry?"

"Y-Yeah," Kerry said pulling back from him. "That would be great, Donnie, thank you." she said smiling softly at him.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Alex asked her. "Do you want me to stay the night?"

"It's fine Alex, I'll be okay on my own." she smiled slightly, though not like earlier in the night. "You don't have too."

"I will if you want me to," she assured her. "It's no trouble."

"...cheesy scary movie marathon?" Kerry asked slowly

Alex smiled. "Of course," Alex said. "Don, why don't you take Kerry home? I've got to go home to change and get some stuff." Kerry blushed at the thought of alone time with Donatello, something that has never really happened before.

"Yeah," he said, offering his arm to Kerry. "You ready?"

Kerry smiled softly as she reached out and wrapped both her arms around the one he offered. "Ready, Doctor."  
Kerry and Don made their way out of Franco's, Alex and Raph's eyes watching them as they went. Raph smiled and took Alex's hand gently, looking over it for any damage. There weren't any cuts, but a good portion of her knuckles were bruised. He gave a whistle. "Nice one," He chuckled as he pulled her with him.

"Well, this is an unexpected way to end the night," Alex muttered, looking down to the floor.

"But I wouldn't change it." Raph said. "In my opinion it was great, finally seeing her get her dews," he said.

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have hit her," Alex sighed. Her parents had always taught her never to attack someone who couldn't defend themselves like she could and he had attacked someone out of anger. "I lost my temper. I shouldn't have done that."

"If you didn't I would have, if Don didn't beat me too it. Heck if Leo was there I beat even Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes would have decked her one." He assured. "You're human, you're allowed to mess up like that. It's good."

Alex sighed, nodding her head. "Thanks," she said. "And I'm glad, despite this, that you had a good time tonight. It is your actual birthday, after all."

"Ahaha I was wondering when you'd remember." He teased. "We did have fun actually. We never guessed we would have seen you two tonight, it was a good surprise."

"That's good," she said. "I didn't want you to think we were crashing."

"We wouldn't have minded if you did." He chuckled. "You're our friends."

"I couldn't imagine my life without you guys in it now," Alex said. "It feels like you've always been here. Not just two months."

"I know what you mean." Raph nodded. "Maybe you're more family than friends."

"Just don't you think of me like a sister like Mikey does," Alex told him. _Not to mention by whole attraction to him_, she thought. "That would make the whole kissing thing weird."

"Ahaha, yeah not to mention kind of illegal if it was true." Raph said. "Though we do both have red hair and green eyes."

"So, both of my parents have red hair," Alex said. "Not the same eye color though." She followed Raph out of the place, him walking her home. "I like your hair though," she told him. "And your eyes. You're eyes are beautiful."

"Stop stealing my lines, woman," Raph said tugging the end of a strand of hair playfully.  
Alex groaned a moment, smoothing down the strand he had tugged. "Y-You like my eyes?"

"Yeah, have I not said that before?" He blinked. "Well I like your eyes, they're brighter than mine or Kerry's."

"Nobody's ever told me that before," she said. "Same with my hair. I mean, my friends all joke about the whole soulless ginger thing."

"Hey now," Raph chuckled. "_I'm_ the soulless one. You? I don't' think anybody could ever say you were soulless."

"You're not soulless either," she told him. "You're a _hothead_, yes. Soulless? No way. Far too sweet to be soulless."

"I am not sweet!" Raph said defensively.

"Yes you are," she told him. "But don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

"Stop saying stuff like that!" he grumbled a bit.

"W-Why?" she asked, worried she had said something wrong. "I'm just being honest."

"Doesn't mean you say that outloud!" Raph grumbled once more.

"S-Sorry," she apologized, glancing down at the ground. "I, uh, didn't mean to make, to make you uncomfortable."

"I-It's fine, I just don't want people going around thinking I'm soft." He grumbled with a slight red tint to his cheeks.

"Being sweet and being soft are two different things," she told him. "And does it really matter what they think? Like I told Kerry, they're not your friends; they're not the people that are important."

"Brother's are different." Raph chuckled. "They look for stuff to hold over your head."

"You forget I have four brothers?" she asked. "I know that. And sometimes it's annoying, but then again, whenever they're in a tough spot, I'm the _first _person they come to."

"I have Leo." Was all that Raph said next.

"I have Elliot," she said. "Elliot's the golden child. He can't do anything wrong in my father's eyes. None of my brothers can."

"I have Don." Raph grumbled.

"Nathan," she listed.

"I have _Mikey_." He said slowly.

"Zack," she said.

"Zack is way better than Mikey is. Trust me."

"Okay, so maybe Zack and Marcus are my equivalent of Mikey," Alex said. "I mean, there can only be one _Mikey_."

"Thank God." He grumbled.

"And then there's us," she muttered.

"And what is 'us'" Raph chuckled.

"Beats me," Alex said. "I don't know about you, but for me," she sighed, "My dad never wanted a girl. He didn't know anything about raising a girl." She shrugged. "Still doesn't."

"Hey now, I'm sure he enjoys every minute of it though." Raph assured her.

"Oh, no," Alex said. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying that I wasn't the girl that grew up getting dolls from her dad. I'd get swords. He didn't tell me stories, he told me strategy. Hide and seek was training, not a fun game to pass the time."

"Sounds like my upbringing," Raph said thoughtfully.

"I'm sure Master Splinter has some interesting fables to tell you though," Alex said. "I mean, I've heard some interesting Japanese stories from him since meeting him."

"Yeah, Dad really knows how to tell a story." Raph said. "I think he can make a story about a haircut sound interesting."

Alex laughed, nodding her head. "I agree full heartedly with that. My mom's the same way. My mom was really what's kept me sane being with my brothers and dad," Alex added, a small smile on her face. "I don't think I've ever met a stronger woman than her. I mean, nobody, and I mean nobody can control my brothers. She can do it with just a look.

"I wouldn't really know about Mom's," Raph said slowly. "I mean never knew my real parents, none of us did."

Alex glanced up at him, seeing his distant expression. "I think you'd really like my mom," she said. "I know she'd love you."

Raph scoffed. "Yeah right," he said. "I'm not the guy parents like to see their daughters bring home."

"That's the beauty of my mother though," she said. "It's like she can see straight through people. See who they really are. She'd see you for how I see you."

"And how is that?" He asked. "If you say sweet I will hit you." He promised.

Alex rolled her eyes. "You're strong and confident, sometimes a little overly so. You don't really know how to talk to people, sometimes saying the wrong thing, or saying the write thing but in the wrong tone. You're intimidating. You judge people before you get to know them. You're a tease. You have a very large temper. You don't know when to shut up."

"Gee, thanks." Raph scoffed at her. "Tell me how you really feel, why don't ya."

"But you're also protective," she added. "And you'd do anything for the people you care about. Sometimes people you don't even know or like. You have a heart of gold. You're observant and, again, strong. You're funny and sarcastic and you make me laugh. You make me feel safe and I love spending time with you." She glanced up, biting her lip as she said. "You're an incredible guy, you know that?"

"U-Uh," Raph blinked. "I, u-uh." He murmured, unable to think of anything to say.

"Here we are," Alex said, referring to her apartment. "Do you want to come inside or wait out here? I think everybody's asleep. I just have to change and grab a couple things. Take off this _stupid _makeup and costume."

"I'll uh, wait out here," Raph said stuffing his hands in his pockets. "And Alex,...thanks."

Alex smiled shyly at Raph. She moved in, kissing his lightly on the cheek before saying. "Anything for you, Raph," she said before turning into the apartment.


	19. Dinner

Chapter 19

Dinner

"_You, you got me. Thinking it'll be alright. You, you told me, "Come and take a look inside." You believed me, In every single lie. But I, I failed you this time. And it feels like tonight. I can't believe I'm broken inside. Can't you see that there's nothing that I wanna do, but try to make it up to you? And it feels like tonight, tonight."_

Alex hummed along with Daughtry's song as she peaked over the top of the pot of water to see if it was boiling. A soft smile appeared on her face upon seeing that it was, in fact, boilings. She proceeded to drop the pasta into the bowl, causing the water to ease. She turned away from it for a moment to go back to some of her other work.

"_I was waiting for the day you'd come around. I was chasing, and nothing was all I found. From the moment you came into my life, you showed me what's right. And it feels like tonight. I can't believe I'm broken inside. Can't you see that there's nothing that I wanna do, but try to make it up to you? And it feels like tonight."_

The redhead bobbed her head, making her way over to the refrigerator. She pulled out two eggs before closing the door and heading back over to the island where the rest of the ingredients were. She cracked the eggs into a bowl before throwing out the shells. She then added parmesan and whisked them together. She moved it to the side, out of the way.

"_I never felt like this before. Just when I leave, I'm back for more. Nothing else here seems to matter. In these ever-changing days, you're the one thing that remains. I could stay like this forever."_

Green eyes glanced over at the door curiously before slowly making her way over to it. She looked through the spy hole before backing up, blinking in surprise as she opened the door.

Raph was standing outside in the hallways, hands in the pockets of his black skinny jeans. He was wearing one of his black leather jackets with a deep red tee-shirt on under, his backpack over his shoulder with his helmet in it, indicating that he had drove over there instead of walked.

"Raph?" Alex asked curiously. "What are you doing here?"

He casually shrugged. "Bored," he told her. "Wanted to see if you wanted to get somethin to eat."

_And he came to see me? _she thought, blushing slightly. "And you can _here_?" she asked. "Why didn't you just do something with your brothers?"

"Don's been working on some project all day and he'll be at it all night," he started to explain. "Leo and Master Splinter have been on a spiritual meditation cleansing thing or whatever. They won't be back until tomorrow night. And Mikey went to that horror movie marathon thing earlier. He ate too much popcorn and made himself sick, so he's home in bed."

Alex chuckled with a roll of her eyes. "So basically I'm all that's left," she concluded.

Raph rolled his eyes. "You want a free dinner or not?"

"I'm, uh, actually in the middle of making dinner now," she told him.

He glanced away, nodding as he said, "Okay, well, uh, I'll see you later then." He turned to leave.

Alex sighed, feeling bad that he was left with nobody to be with. It wasn't like she was with anybody. She had just planned on sitting around all night, most likely watching crappy Hallmark movies eating pie. "Do you like spaghetti carbonara?" she asked him, causing him to turn around.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I like what?" he asked.

"Spaghetti carbonara," she said. "You could, you know, join me if you'd like."

"Wouldn't it be a little weird for me to just pop in and invite myself to dinner with your family?" he asked.

Alex had gone and told her parents and brothers that she was dating Raph, leaving out the fact that it was fake dating. She knew none of them would approve of that little fact and they'd most likely think he was taking advantage of her. He wasn't, Alex knew, and she would have told them that, but it was just less of a headache. Raph, of course, knew all of that.

"Nobody's home," she told him. "It's my parents anniversary this week so they went on vacation. Elliot's in Japan, obviously. Marcus and some of his friends are on a trip to Vegas. Nathan's on a trip to DC for one of his college classes and Zack's upstate visiting his girlfriend's family."

"And you didn't call Kerry to come hang out?" Raph asked, making his way back over to the female redhead.

Alex shrugged. "She has to work tonight," she told him. "So I'm just chilling on my own. But you're more than welcome to join me, if you want."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, moving out of the way and holding the door open for him. "Come on in."

"So, what's in it?" he asked as he entered the apartment.

"I'm pretty sure you'll like it," Alex told him. "It's got pasta, bacon, garlic, e-"

"You had me at _bacon_," he said, sitting down at the island.

Alex rolled her eyes as she went and checked on the pasta before going to one of the cabinets next to the stove, pulling out a large skillet. She put it on one of the large burns with the heat turned to medium. She gently placed the bacon into the pan and left it for a couple minutes, minding not to burn it, but making sure it was crispy.

"I didn't know you cooked," Raph told her slowly as he peered over her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said. "I try to help my mom when I can. Seven people is a lot to cook for. Plus, lately whenever I get home from work everybody's asleep so I kinda have to make myself something."

"Sure you don't need help? I don't want to have to call the firefighters." Raph smirked.

Alex blushed, remember seeing him in his Fireman costume a couple days before, the events of the whole night playing over in her mind. "Very funny," she said humorlessly. "I can cook, I assure you. Like I said, I cook for myself almost every night."

"Yeah, but can you cook _well?"_ Raph asked.

Alex rolled her eyes and threw a washcloth at his head. He laughed and caught it easily. As Alex took the pot of pasta to the sink to drain, The Script came over her iPod dock on the counter. "She's all laid up in bed with a broken heart, while I'm drinking Jack all alone in my local bar. And we don't know how we got into this mad situation. Only doing things out of frustration. Trying to make it work but man these times are hard," Alex sang along.

"Don't ignore me," Raph grumbled. "I got enough of that from Don before coming all the way over here." He groaned.

"I'm sorry, _Darling_," she said, turning to Raph, faking sweetness in her voice like a fifties house wife. "I didn't realize you had such a _hard day_ at work. I didn't _mean _to ignore you."

"Okay, don't be a bitch," Raph narrowed his eyes.

"Then don't be a dick," she told him with a smirk. "I'm making you dinner for crying out loud!"

"Can you talk to me? I want conversation, not a concert," Raph grumbled.

"What? Don't enjoy my singing?" Alex asked. "I'm not that bad."

She put the pot next to the stove. She tossed in some garlic, turning the heat down to low. Alex nodded her head back and forth,moving her hips to the beat of the music as she continued cooking her dinner.

"Not as much as your dancing. I'm getting a good show from here," he smirked at her, staring down her legs.

Alex blushed. She was wearing a short pair of jean shorts and a simple tank top, haired pulled back into a messy bun. She hadn't been expecting company so she had dressed completely comfortably. Alex spun around, face still red. "One more comment like that out of you and there'll be no food for you," she threatened.

"_She needs me now but I can't seem to find a time. I've got a new job now in the unemployment line. And we don't know how we got into this mess it's a gods test. Someone help us 'cause we're doing our best."_

"You know you like it." Raph smirked. "You love it when I tease."

Alex sighed. _Now only if he meant it, _she thought. "You don't have to put ideas in my head, you know."

"What do you mean?"

_Way to go stupid, you've said too much!_ She shook her head. "Uh, nothing," she said. "It's not important."

"Alex," Raph said getting up and walking around to see her. "I told you I got your back, you can tell me anything. We can talk about anything," he promised her.

"_Trying to make it work but man these times are hard, but we're gonna start by drinking old cheap bottles of wine, sit talking up all night saying things we haven't for a while, a while yeah. We're smiling but we're close to tears. Even after all these years. We just now got the feeling that we're meeting for the first time."_

"It's just, well," Alex said, working quickly. "You tease me and tell me these thing and, well, you're the only one that tells me stuff like that. They're things that people that like each other say and _I don't know._ I mean, you don't actually like me, so I just wish someone who really did like me would say it. You know?"

"Alex," Raph said. "You've become my best friend. I like you more than most people," He laughed. "And some people aren't as comfortable making those comments as I am. I have no shame," he teased. "Don't worry, you're going to find someone to talk dirty to you," he said bumping his shoulder with hers.

"_Raph_!" she gasped, hitting him on the arm with her spoon.

Alex stirred in the pasta and the egg mix, gently tossing it in the pan to combine it. She sprinkled in some salt and pepper for better taste. Once that was done, she turned off the stove, putting the dirty pots into the sink to be washed later.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't have to tell me _that_," she said, referring to the whole dirty talking comment.

"But in the mean time," Raph said, moving out of her way. "You're stuck with my comments."

"Oh wonderful," she muttered.

Alex turned to the food once more, sprinkling a little more parmesan onto the pasta after having platted a serving for herself some for dinner. She filled another one for Raph, doing the same she had done to her own and put it in front of Raph. She turned to go get more silverware as Gavin Degraw's Not Over You came over her iPod.

"_Dreams, that's where I have to go. To see your beautiful face anymore. I stare at a picture of you and listen to the radio. Hope, hope there's a conversation. We both admit we had it good, but until then it's alienation, I know that much is understood and I realize…"_

"Dig in," she told him, diving into the food herself.

"Thanks," He said as he himself sat down with her and took a bite.

"Of course," she told him.

"Not bad," Raph told her, mouth half full. "For a Butch."

Alex glared across the island. "Keep talking like that and you won't get pie," the redhead threatened.

"_If you ask me how I'm doing I would say I'm doing just fine. I would lie and say that you're not on my mind. But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two and finally I'm forced to face the truth, no matter what I say I'm not over you, not over you…"_

Raph's head instantly popped up, eyes focused on Alex's green eyes. "Pie?" he asked.

"Yeah, I made dark chocolate cream pie this afternoon," she told him.

He moaned slightly. "Will you marry me?" he asked her.

Alex rolled her eyes, though her cheeks were slightly red. "Shut up and eat," she told him, knowing fully well he didn't mean it.

"_Damn, damn girl, you do it well. And I thought you were innocent. Took this heart and put it through hell, but still you're magnificent. I, I'm a boomerang, doesn't matter how you throw me I turn around and I'm back in the game. Even better than the old me. But I'm not even close without you." _

"You listen to girly music," he told her.

"If you're going to keep doing that, I'm going to kick you out," she told him.

"Aw, don't be like that, Babe."

"Don't call me _Babe_," she ordered, taking another bite. "Do you want anymore parmesan?" she asked, getting up to get more for herself.

"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great."

"Coming right up," she said, grabbing it out of the cabinet. She slit it to him first, allowing her guest to be served first.

"Thanks," he said again as he poured it over his pasta. He slid it across the island to Alex so she could use it next.

She poured it on her food before putting it back away. She froze, however, when the song changed to something far different than what had been playing before.

'_"No" is a dirty word. Never gonna say it first. "No" is just a thought that never crosses my mind. Maybe in the parking lot. Better bring your friend along. Better off together than just one at a time."_

Nickelback's S.E.X came on over her iPod and her face flushed. Alex hid her face in her hands for a moment, mortified that the song just _had _to come over on shuffle. Freakin' Barbie Girl would have been better than that!

"_S is for the simple need. E is for the ecstasy. X is just to mark the spot, 'cause that's the one you really want. (Yes!) Sex is always the answer, it's never a question, 'Cause the answer's yes, the answer's (Yes) Not just a suggestion, if you ask the question. Then it's always yes. Yeah! "_

"...know I was coming or something?" Raph said, trying to hold back laughter,

Alex dove to go and change the song, but Raph blocked her way, staring her down with that horribly amused smirk of his. "No," she told him. "It's on _shuffle_, smartass."

"_I'm loving what you wanna wear. I wonder what's up under there? Wonder if I'll ever have it under my tongue? I'd love to try to set you free. All of you all over me. Love hearin' the sound you make the second you're done."_

"Hmmm," Raph murmured with a smirk. "Sure it is," he said winking at her.

She smacked him, reaching around him to change the song. "I swear," she said.

"I didn't peg you for a Nickelback kind of girl," he said, going back to his seat.

"It's, uh, a guilty pleasure," she admitted, going back to her own food.

"Hm, really? What other guilty pleasures do you have?" Raph smirked.

"You don't actually expect me to answer that, do you?" Alex asked, finishing up her food. "Are you done?" she asked, referring to his food.

"Yeah," Raph rolled his eyes. "Now, about that pie..."

"Patience is a virtue," Alex sang, taking his plate to dump into the dishwasher. She turned to the refrigerator and pulled out the pie, setting it on the counter before getting more plates and silverware. She cut out two pieces and put them on the plates. She put the pie away.

Alex grabbed the pies and nodded for him to follow her into the living room. "We'll be more comfortable in here," she said. "You good with that?"

"I have pie. Why would I complain?" Raph grinned at her as he sat on the couch.

Alex rolled her eyes, taking a seat in the corner of the sectional, Raph right there next to her. "Here you go," she said, handing the plate to him. "I hope you like it. I know it's one of _my _favorites."

"It's pie," he said as he took a bit. "Wow, it's really good," he said as he took another. "The guys will be so mad when I tell them I got this."

"Oh, is that why you guys keep me around? For my pie making abilities?" she joked.

"Hmm, you're not to bad on the eyes either," he smirked at her.

Alex blushed but rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm glad you like it," she said. "What's your favorite dessert?" she asked.

"Dark chocolate," Raph said. "I hate overly sweet things."

"Ah, that's where we're different," Alex said. "I enjoy dark chocolate too, but I love _melt_ _in your mouth_ milk chocolate," she moaned.

"That so?" Raph smirked. "What else do you like in your mouth?"

Alex hit him on the arm. "Stop referencing Nickelback songs!" she said, talking about their song Something In Your Mouth. "I'm not going to live that guilty pleasure down, am I?"

"Never, as long as you live, I will tease you," Raph snickered at her.

"Fine," she said. "Then you have to tell me one of _yours_. It's only fair."

"Hmm what if I tell you my brothers instead?" he offered.

Alex snorted, putting her empty plate on the coffee table. "No way," she said. "I don't want to know that. If it makes you feel any better, you can have another piece of pie…"

"Gahh, then why do you want to know _miiiiiine_," Raph murmured before then stopped to think of the pie. "...fine."

Alex giggled. "Okay," she said, getting up onto the couch, giving him an incredible view of her legs and behind. She hopped over the back of the couch and made her way to the kitchen with the plates. "Come on!" she yelled. "Tell me!" She put the pie onto the plate before heading back into the living room, handing him the pie from behind the back of the couch. She stepped over the back and sat back down, legs crossed under head, leaning back onto the back, arm bend, hand running through her hair.

Raph took his time, nursing his pie slowly.

"Come on," she urged. "You can tell me while you eat."

"But I want to eat my pie," he teased, while trying to stall

Alex sighed, blush deep on her cheeks. "Fine," she sighed. "If I tell you _one more,_" she said, holding up one finger to emphasize her point while biting her lip, "will you tell me _now_?"

"Deal." he grinned mischievously. "Legs over my shoulders," he answered.

Alex blinked. _Legs over his….Over his shoulders?_ She bit her lip, unable to prevent herself from imagining laying down, her legs pulled up close to her chest, draped over his shoulders, hand firmly on her thighs...She cleared her her throat, rubbing the back of her neck as she felt her pulse in her face.

"Your turn!" Raph smirked at the girl.

"U-Uh, well," she muttered. "B-Being pinned," she admitted. "Like, being help up, legs wrapped around the guy, pressed against a wall or something."

"Oh wow, you do have a dark underbelly." Raph snickered at her.

"_Raph_!" she said, hitting him lightly.

"Hey, I don't judge," he said. "What you tell me stays with me. Plus, I don't think it's that weird."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, it just means you prefer close contact, right?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You're just goes to show you enjoy _legs _too much," she teased.

"What? A good pair of legs are nice!" he defended.

Alex laughed, shaking her head. The two fell silent for a couple minutes as Raph finished eating his pie. She knew he had a point though. Being close was something Alex always liked. She always thought that part of people in a relationship would be one of her favorites.

"You know what I _really _dream about though?" she said, speaking without really realizing that was what she was doing. She glanced up at him, eyes honest and vulnerable. "Cuddling," she admitted. "That's one of the things I've dreamt about most. The _warmth_. The feeling of just people there with them. Feeling _safe _and _comfortable_. All because you're there in their arms."

"Nothing wrong with that. Feeling close to someone, according to Don, is a basic human need. Without it we'd lose our minds," he said shrugging.

"Do you?" she asked hesitantly, biting her lip. "Ever just imagine that? Nothing else. Nothing dirty or flirty. Just sweet comfort?"

"...Yeah," Raph replied after a while. "I really do sometimes. I mean, who doesn't?"

The girl smiled softly at him, lead leaning on her arm that was resting on the back of the couch. "I guess you're right about that," she said softly, extremely happy to hear that he did too.

"I'm right about a lot of things. People just don't hear correctly."

"Hey, no need to get all defensive," she said evenly. "I was agreeing with you, honey."

"I know, but people think I'm being aggressive or harsh when it's meant to be taken more insightfully than that. It's not surface level stuff all the time, you know."

"I know," she said, putting a comforting hand on his arm. "And I'm sorry that sometimes I might take it the wrong way. Like with some of the things you tell me."

"Like what?" he asked.

Alex shrugged. "Like, uh, when you tell me I'm pretty," she said. "Sometime I don't think you really mean it, but it might just be because other than Kerry, you're one of the only people to tell me that. The only guy, really."

"I meant it though." Raph scowled a bit.

"Like I said, I know," she said. "And as cliche as this sounds, it's not you. It's me." She glanced at the family photo on the table in front of her. "I mean, I have four older brothers. They don't exactly tell you thing like that. My dad either. And my mom's not the most feminine woman either, so we never really worried about things like that. It's all new to me. I'm just not used to anything like that."

"Well then change. You're a cute girl, okay?" he argued.

Alex bit her lip. _He thinks I'm cute? _She sighed softly, leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of his lips. "Thanks," she told him. "That means more to me than you know."

"No problem," he said. "Like I said, you're my best friend."

Alex smiled softly at him, happy that he thought that way, but a little pained that it wasn't anything more than that. "You are mine too," she told him. "I-I love you, Raph. Y-You and your brothers."

"We love ya too." Raph smiled. "You're part of the family."

Alex cleared her throat. "Speaking of families," she said. "It's getting late. You should probably head back home to yours. They'll be wondering where you disappeared to."

"Doubt it." he chuckled but stood up.

"Oh, wait," Alex said, getting up and jumping over the back of the couch. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed the cellophane and wrapped up the rest of the pie. She met back up with Raph and placed the rest of it in his hands. "Take it home," she said.

"Really?" He blinked at her in wonder.

"Yeah," Alex told him. "You liked it, and I could always make another one if I wanted anymore. Enjoy it."

"Thanks!" Raph said giving her a hug around the shoulders. "I'm definitely going to enjoy it!"

She rolled her eyes and lead him to the door, arm wrapped around his waist. "You do that," she chuckled.

"See you soon?" he asked.

She nodded. "Tomorrow after school. Just like every Monday," she said.

"Right see ya then, Firecracker." He grinned as he headed out the door.

"Raph?" she called out before he was too far down the hall. "Uh, feel free to stop by whenever you like," she told him, leaning against the doorframe. "I enjoyed the company."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said looking over his shoulder.


	20. Spa

Chapter 20

Spa

Half days weren't that common once they hit high school, but Alex loved half days. Not that fact that she still had to get up early, but because she got out so much earlier and had some free time to do whatever it was she wanted. Which, that day, happened to be going to the spa with Kerry, Emily, Kiley and Phoebe.

She was using the gift card given to her by Emily, Kiley and ERik for her birthday to pay for it, stating that she wouldn't have gone on her own and would enjoy herself so much more if she had her friends there with her.

And that was where Alex was. She was laying down on a massage table with just a towel laying over her bottom half as a masseuse worked away at her tense muscles. Emily and Kiley were sitting getting their nails done. Phoebe was sitting in the hot tub. And Kerry was laying down on the bed next to Alex, a woman working on her facial.

"Oh, I got you guys presents!" Emily exclaimed, leaning over the side of her chair as her feet were soaking to get the bags.

"You got us a present while using a present?" Kerry asked with a raised eyebrow. It looked so odd to see her with no makeup on and it was obvious she felt a little naked without it. She looked so young now, it was weird.

"_Psh_, no!" she said. "I got them over the weekend! There was a sale at Victoria's Secret and I just couldn't resist using Daddy's card."

"Of course you couldn't," Kiley muttered, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Right," she said, tossing the bags to everybody. "And I know we'll all use them so enjoy!"

Alex sat up slightly off her stomach, making sure to remain bent over enough where she wasn't flashing everybody in the room. She caught the small bag with one hand and leaned back down slightly. She grabbed another towel and stuffed it in front of her chest so she wouldn't have to worry about that for the moment.

Kerry barely had time to catch hers with a swear. "Warn a girl will you?"

And stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out the red material, face falling when she saw the material. "What the fuck?" she asked, eyes widening, her face as red as the material in her hand.

The first one she pulled out was a sheer, inlined ruby bustier with a sweetheart neckline to support boning. There were little bows on the straps. The bottoms folded in the fabric was a matching thong. The second sheer flyaway from the oversized satin accent to the ruffled lace trim at the neckline and hem. It had a matching pair of lacy g-string underwear.

"O-Oh my god." Kerry murmured as she opened the box she had found in the bag. "Is this-?!" she lifted out a black corset top, but not one she would usually wear due to the breast padding and the garter buckles dangling down. It had purple bows at each hip and one between the breasts. Long strips of purple silk ran down the supportive boning on the corset. Inside the box sat scraps of fabric that must have been the underwear, and sheer fabric that must be the thigh high pany hose for the garter belt. "N-No no!" Kerry bemoaned as she put it back in the box.

Phoebe's was sheer, short pink cream with the sweetest ruffled detailing, with satin bows and trim. A matching thong panty with the same bow detail completed the look. Her face, was even redder than Alex's hair.

"Why would you buy us this stuff?" Alex demanded.

"Well, we're all going to get lucky at some point," she said. "So I thought I'd get you something for one of those special nights!"

"W-Why didn't you get Kiley anything?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, she did," Kiley said. "She gets me stuff like that all the time. And let me tell you, it really _does _come in handy. She has a sense for this kind of thing, weirdly enough."

"B-but I don't even have a boyfriend!" Kerry said green face mask hiding her red blush.

"Yeah, but you will eventually," Emily told her.

"Probably sooner than you think," Alex teased.

"N-No, I won't. I'm perfectly fine flying solo!" Kerry blushed though her eyes locked on the purple fabric. How did Emily know Don liked purple?

"You can't tell me that if Don asked you out you'd say no!" Alex said to the girl, removing the towel from in front of her to lay back down so the masseuse could get back to work.

"I-I well," Kerry murmured. "I wouldn't crush him like that. But he'd never actually ask me out!"

"You don't know that," Alex said. "Don really likes you. Raph tells me all the time."

"Speaking of Raph," Emily said. "How are the two of you?"

"W-What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"How far have you guys gotten?" She gushed at her.

"H-Honestly, we've only kissed," she answered_. Oh God, this was embarrassing. We're not even actually dating!_

"Aw, what?" Emily groaned. "Do you at least know what he wants sexually?"

"W-what do you mean by that?" Alex asked. The masseuse hit a tight spot on her back and started rubbing it out with her elbow. "Oh God. _Right there. _Yeah, thanks."

"Do you think you'll be able to satisfy him?" Emily rolled her eyes.

Alex gulped. _Well, he likes legs over his shoulder, and I _am _flexible. And hair pulling, I could do that. _She glanced over at Kerry, wondering what she should say to that. "Uh, well, I guess," she muttered.

"You guess? Honey, you have to know for when the time comes-" Emily started to run but Kerry cut her off.

"She'll be fine, it'll happen just fine." Kerry said simply as she laid back down, forgetting the corset laying at her feet.

Alex mouthed a thank you to her to which the dark haired girl waved off.

"But do you want to?" Emily asked. "I mean, look at the guy. He's a God! He's gotta be good in bed."

"Yeah, I mean, I know you've only been dating a month, but you've had to thought about him that way at least a little," Kiley added.

"W-Well," Alex muttered. "He is an _amazing _kisser…"

"You two would make beautiful redheads together," Emily sighed.

"I think he's a good match," Kerry shrugged a bit, if she thought about it it was true. They did meld well together.

"You really think so?" Alex asked Kerry, knowing she would get her secret meaning. Kerry knew Alex really did like Raph and was scared that they wouldn't be good together, if they ever really did start to date.

"Yeah, you're good," Kerry assured her honestly.

"Can we change the subject?" Phoebe asked. "I'm uncomfortable with this. Alex's physical relationship with Raph is personal. She doesn't have to share it with us."

"Thank you!" Alex exclaimed

"Oh fine," Emily sighed. "I brought a Truth game if you want to play that."

"That sounds good to me," Kiley said.

"Same," Alex said.

"Ditto." Kerry said.

"Okay," Emily said, taking out the little question cards from her purse. "We'll go clockwise. I'll go first." She cleared her throat and then read the card, "_I__f you won 1,000,000 dollars in the lottery what would you do with the money?_ Go shopping of course!" She pulled out the next card and turned to Kiley. "_Have you ever skinny dipped?_"

"Yes," she answered.

"Whoa, really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, uh, we went to Lake Ontario one summer," she said. "Uh, Erik and I did it on a dare."

"And I was the one to dare them," Emily told them with a smile. "Who is the ugliest guy you have ever kiss?"

"He's called Jack," Phoebe answered. "He lives back in England."

"_What are you going to name your future kids and how many?"_

"Uh," Kerry said in thought. "I want at least one boy, maybe two. I'd want to name one Malikai, and Gabriel for the other. But if I happened to have a girl I guess Trinity."

"Those are adorable names," Phoebe told her.

"_If you were a boy for a day, what would be the first thing you did?" _

"And we have to answer these honestly?" Alex asked, receiving a nod. She sighed and said. "Masterbate."

"Alex!" Kerry gaped at her.

"What? I want to know if it's the same feeling for guys as girls!" she defended herself.

"Go ask Raph then!" Kerry grumbled.

"He doesn't know what a female orgasm feels like!" Alex said. "He's not a female! I want to experience both."

"I'd do the same thing," Emily told her. "My turn! _Did you brush your teeth this morning?_ What the hell kind of question was that? Of course I brushed my teeth!"

"_Do you own a thong? Are you wearing it now?"_

"Yes and No," Kiley answered.

Alex glanced back at her masseuse and said, "I am so sorry you have to listen to this."

"It's far more amusing than some of the conversations we have to listen to," the woman laughed.

"This isn't on our top ten oddest conversations list," Kerry murmured as another woman massaged her face.

"_What is the meanest thing you've ever done?" _

"I punched my brother in the balls," Phoebe answered.

"Ouch," Alex winced. "Poor Joseph."

"Psh, lame!" Kerry chuckled.

"_Have you ever held hands with a boy? If so, when and where?"_

Kerry went quiet, her haughty attitude gone instantly. "I-I uh..yeah w-with Don," she whispered shyly.

"_And_?" Emily pressed, excited to hear this. "Go on! I _must _know!"

"Well, he walked me home on Halloween while Alex went to get her stuff and he took my hand on the way there. And he even-" Kerry cut herself off. "This is stupid."

"Kerry, don't do this to me! What?" Alex pressed.

"Well he came in for coffee and we talked while we waited for you and Raph," Kerry mumbled looking everywhere but her friends. "When I walked him out he uh, k-kissed my forehead."

"Aw, ever the gentlemen," Alex said, small smile in place.

"Boring, he should have full on Frenched you," Emily said.

Kerry squeaked at that. "W-What!? Donatello would never do that!" she said in shock.

"Maybe once you start dating," Alex said. "But he'd be respectful and wouldn't do anything you wouldn't want."

"...I never said I wouldn't want him too," Kerry whispered to Alex.

Alex giggled waiting for her next question.

"_What do you like the most about everyone in this room?"_

"How Emily's not afraid to be herself. How mellow Kiley is. That Phoebe is the sweetest of of us. And Kerry's big sister nature," she answered.

"Aw love you too Dorkfish." Kerry chuckled. "And what about Raph?"

"Fruitcake," she muttered, trying to avoid the question.

"Answer the damn question!" Emily yelled, eager to know.

"Uh, well," Alex muttered. "It's hard to pick just one thing. I love how protective and safe he makes me feel," she answered. "I can, I can just be myself when I'm with him."

"I understand that completely," Phoebe told her. "I feel the same way with Rudy."

"Same with me and Erik," Kiley said.

"_Keeeeerrryyyyyyy_," Emily whined. "We need boyfriends!"

"I said I'm fine flying solo." Kerry said blushing darkly as she thought of someone.

"You're no fun," Emily muttered.

"No I'm Miss Independent." Kerry scoffed.

"That was horrible," Alex giggled.

"I think you mean 'That was so boss, Kerry. Oh my gosh.'" She said in a fake mimicked tone.

"I do _not _sound like that!" Alex protested.

"No really," Kerry asked sarcastically. "Dumbass."

"Go suck Don's dick," she said, huffing as she put her head done.

Kerry choked on air, unable to breath as that sunk into her brain. OH MY GOD! "W-Well you can just go and fuck your self then!"

"Oh, Fruitcake, I already do that," Alex told her. "Losing comeback!"

"Hehe," Emily giggled. "_Come_back."

"That was intentional," Alex said.

"What?" Kerry blinked at Alex. "You do?"

"Didn't we kind of cover that already?" she asked. "I mean, I did say I know what an orgasm feels like."

"I know but I didn't really think you..." Kerry looked away knowing where this conversation will go if she continues. "So how about that homework!" she said changing the subject.

"Not changing that easily," Kiley said. "What the hell, Alex?"

"What?" she asked. "I'm a teenage girl. I have needs! And it doesn't help that every Christmas your sister buys me sex toys! I have a freakin' box full of them in my closet!"

"Hey, you were single," Emily said with a shrug. "Figured you needed something the equivalent of a lay."

"Yes, that homework," Phoebe exclaimed.

"Okay, time's up," Alex's masseuse said.

"Thank god." Kerry said standing up quickly. "Sorry people touching me is not my thing."

"No, please tell me it isn't so!" Alex said. "But I love you. You can't leave me. You have magic hands!"

Alex sighed. _Maybe I could trick Raph into giving me one sometime…_

* * *

Alex hummed, walking straight into the boys common room. She was early due to having a half day, so in order to prevent them from going to get her, she decided to just show up early. She had a little more pep in her step as she walked to the couch, waving at all of the boys before plopping down on the couch. She set her backpack down on the ground and unzipped it, making sure to not pull out the bag of stuff Emily had gotten her as she took out the things she needed for tutoring

"Hello boys!" she greeted.

"Alex! My girl! My Main Squeeze!"Mikey said flying onto the couch to hug her around the waist, face burrowed into her stomach. "Hi!" he muffled. "How is my favorite redhead?"

"Hey!" Raph yelled.

"I'm great!" Alex exclaimed. "How are you, honey?"

"Gooood." He drew out. "I don't wanna work today."

"You never want to work," Leo said, sitting in his meditation corner.

"Well, actually, you're all caught up on everything," Alex said. "And we're kind of ahead of the schedule, so if you want we can take a break for today," she said easily. Normally she would have said they would work anyways, using the opportunity to make sure he had it down, but Mikey was doing great and Alex was in a really good mood.

"Really?!" Mikey asked sitting up and grinning at her.

"Yeah, why not?" she said, reaching grab her back. She pulled it up onto her lap and opened it, sliding in her notebook as Mikey watched her.

"What's that?" He asked pointing to the bag.

Alex glanced up at him. "What?" she asked, not knowing he had been watching her.

"The gift bag. A late birthday present?" He asked tilting his head innocently.

Alex glanced down, seeing he was referring to the gift Emily had given her. Her face darkened and she gulped. "Uh, no," she said. "It's nothing. Just something Emily got me."

"Oh-oh the Em-babe?" Mikey asked. "Let me see! What did she get you?"

"NOTHING!" Alex screamed. She clasped her hand over her mouth, embarrassed at her outburst. _Oh my God. Kill me. Kill me now. _

Raph chuckled, walking over and leaning against the back of the couch. "What's gotten into you?"

"You okay?" Don asked from his lab station as he walked in and set it up.

"She won't let me see what Em-babe got her!" Mikey whined, he reached over Alex, trying to pull the bag out of her backpack.

Alex shifted, trying to move it out of his reach, but Mikey kept going, causing Alex's hold on the bag to slip. The Victoria's Secret bag fell out of her backpack and onto the floor, but luckily the content was still secured inside. Alex jumped up, trying to reach for the bag, but Mikey had a hold of her waist, preventing her from getting it.

"V-Victoria's Secret?" Don stammered, reading the name on the bag. Leo popped up from his spot on his meditation mat and scooped it up before any of his brothers could.

"U-uh." he said looking at Alex. "I-I see you got that tank top you talked about," he said to her deliberately.

"Right!" she said, going along with it.

"It's nothing too interesting, Mikey," Leo assured. "Just a workout bra and tank top," he lied.

"But, but, it's Victoria's Secret!" Mikey exclaimed.

"It sells more than bras and underwear, you know!" Alex said.

"You guys are no fun," Mikey pouted.

Leo handed the bag to Alex, and Alex went to put it into her backpack. Mikey quickly reached out and snatched it, flipping over the back of the couch before anyone could catch him.

"Michelangelo!" Leo scolded and gave chase.

"_Mikey_!" Alex squealed.

"Mikey!" Don yelled as he joined his brother in the chase. The two more mature brothers chased Mikey around the room, yelling and scolding the boy as Raph sat next to Alex chuckling at the sight.

"Mikey stop!" Leo yelled and he and Don tackled the boy to the ground, sending the bag flying. It landed right in Raphael's lap, contents spilling out.

Alex sat there, mortified, hiding her face in her hands. _Oh shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Kill me. Please, let me die right now. _Tears were welling up in her eyes from just how embarrassed she was. _Why? Why did this have to happen to me?_

Raph gaped at the items as his brothers rolled around on the ground, wrestling to keep Mikey down from seeing whatever it was. He looked at her before back at the lingerie, then back at her. He seemed to slowly come to reality as he stuffed the items back into the bag and shove them into her hands, looking away.

"He-Here," he said, his face red and if she didn't know any better she would say his expression was rather shy.

She nodded in thanks, shoving the bag back into her backpack. _He probably thinks I'm a slut because of it_, she thought, tears rolling down her face. She shifted her hair, trying to prevent anybody from seeing that. If only he knew she really had imagined wearing it. For him, specifically.

"H-hey relax," Raph stuttered. "Y-You're okay. I-I mean i-it's from a friend, right? A present so- so I don't, you know. T-Think anything about it. Were you the only one t-to, you know, get one?"

Alex shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself, sinking into the couch further. So he didn't think anything of it? He didn't like it? He didn't picture her in it? Those thoughts were almost worse than thinking he thought badly because of her for it.

"S-So yeah, it's fine," Raph said. "J-Just please...for my sanity..._never_ show those to me.._ever_. Bathroom," he said standing up and quickly walking away.

Alex glanced up, watching him go. She shook her head. _He's probably sick thinking about his best friend wearing something like that,_ she thought. _Way to go, Alex. Why didn't you just stop at home and drop it off? It would have saved everybody discomfort! I wouldn't be mortified. Mikey wouldn't have gotten pounded and Raph wouldn't be grossed out! I..I can't believe I gross him out that much! _

"Ahahaha!" Mikey laughed as he walked his brother retreat. "Have fun with that cold shower, Raphie!"

"Mi-Mikey!" Leo scolded his face red.

"S-Sorry, Alex," Don said as he got up, hand grabbing hers. "Mikey can be a dick," he swore to her shock.

"Hey!" Mikey said in offense.

_C-Cold shower? _Alex asked herself. _B-But that would mean...Cold showers are supposed to help get rid of horniness. But, but _Raph _couldn't...He's not… _"Cold shower?" she muttered just loud enough for the others to hear.

"U-Uh yeah, it was in his color and he u-uh..." Don said before looking away, hand clutching Kerry's gift. "Better thoughts, better thoughts," he murmured to himself in a mantra.

"B-But," Alex muttered. "I mean, I'm _me_! He's not...I..._No_."

"Okay listen, I'm only saying this once. He is. You are you. And he liked that and he is in the shower right now because of whatever is in that bag..." Leo murmured obviously uncomfortable.

_He is? Because of me?_ Alex thought, her stomach flipping so much she thought she was on a roller coaster, face on fir_e Oh my God! I did that? Me? So, h-he liked it? He's not grossed out? _Alex relaxed a little, her arms loosening around herself. _I turn him on… _she thought, feeling a little proud of herself. A smirk played on her lips, and before she knew it, she was giggling. _I turn him on!_

"U-Uh, Alex?" Don asked worriedly.

"I think we broke her," Leo murmured

Alex didn't think she had ever been happier to hear anything in her life. She knew that physical attraction wasn't emotional attraction, but it was better than, say, knowing they looked good but not really caring. Like with Fred. Alex knew he was good looking, but she had never, not once, been attracted to him. And being attracted in this way, at least, gave her a little more hope towards Raph actually having feeling for her.

Alex got up and kissed Don on the cheek, before moving to Leo and then Mikey. Sure, she had been horrified moments before, but if this hadn't have happened, she wouldn't have found that out. And she would do it all over again just to find out Raph got turned on by Alex.

"A-Alex?" Don asked again but more in shock. Leo looked at her with wide eyes and red cheeks, stuttering shyly. Mikey grinned at the attention, not really caring for what strange reason it was for and kissed her cheek back.

"Yes Don?" she asked, taking out her phone.

**Alex: You are SO not going to believe what I just found out!**

**Heterosexual Partner: I swear they're not mine! ...lol jk. What?**

"W-What was that for?" he murmured.

"What was what for?" she asked, rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face from Kerry's respond.

**Alex: I make Raph horny. Me! MEEE! **

**Heterosexual Partner: Woah woah woah should you be texting me right now? Are you guys about to...**

**Alex: What? No! Uh, they kind of found Em's present and well one thing led to another and I found out. **

**Heterosexual Partner: Well shit, congratulations you horny bitch! =D**

"T-That kiss. I thought we embarrassed you," he said in worry, head ducked down.

"Oh, uh, right," she said. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

**Alex: Oh, and I kissed Don. He's sitting next to me right now. You want me to say hi for you?**

**Heterosexual Partner:...what?**

"R-Really, I mean..." Don asked sitting next to her. He couldn't find words to finish that so he shrugged. His phone started buzzing in his pocket. "Uh, Alex? Why did Kerry text me an upset emoji?"

Alex laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it, Don. I'll take care of that."

**Alex: He was one of the ones to tell me. So I kissed him and the others. **

**Heterosexual Partner: OUR FRIENDSHIP HAS BEEN TERMINATED.**

**Alex: It wasn't anything romantic, I swear! He told me Raph was attracted to me, so I was happy. I was excited and, well, wouldn't you kiss me on the cheek if I told you Don got turned on by you?**

**Heterosexual Partner: You didn't say on the cheek!...and is he? Do you know, like specifically, because if you have that information you are under girl code law to tell me. And it's worth, like, a week of cupcakes that I will bake for you.**

"Hey Don?" Alex asked, glancing up from her phone.

"Yeah?" he mumbled distractedly as he tried to get Kerry to text him back what was wrong.

"How would you feel if I told you that Kerry was given purple lingerie today?" she asked, faking an innocent smile on her face.

"W-w-w-w-w," he stammered, eyes wide, face redder than Alex's hair. "She was...Linge...She has….Purple?"

**Heterosexual Partner: Normally pauses in texting like this means you've done something that will bite me in the ass.**

**Alex: Patience is a virtue. **

**Heterosexual Partner: WHAT HAVE DONE?!**

"W-why w-w-would that mak….I mean, she's...And I….She'd loo…"He ran a hand through his hair, eyes looking down at his phone darkly. "She'd look wonderful in purple."

Alex's mouth fell open. _Oh my God_, she thought. _He's so picturing it. He's so into Kerry! _

**Alex: Yeah, Don's attracted to you.**

**Heterosexual Partner: You didn't!**

Don's phone buzzed as he held it forgotten in his hand, a text popped up.

**Copper Skinned Goddess: Don! Don't listen to her. She's crazy!**

Alex peered over his shoulder to see the text. "Copper Skinned Goddess?" Alex asked, smirk firmly in place.

Don was mumbling to himself, chin resting in his hand as it was propped up on the arm of the couch. His eyes were glazed over not even hearing Alex's embarrassing discovery. She saw him gulp before getting up and quickly making his way out of the room.

**Alex: Don's broken. I think I broke him. A cold shower should fix that though….**

**Heterosexual Partner:...fucking damn it! Alex!...now I have a picture of him in the shower. -_- FML**

**Alex: Bet you wish you were the one to have gotten those Christmas presents from Emily now, huh?**

**Heterosexual Partner: Oh fuck you Alexandra O'Neil.**

Raph grumbled as he walked back in, his red hair only slightly wet as he sat down in the loveseat next to the couch. "What's with the nerd? He ran into the bathroom like a bat out of hell."

"Oh, you know," Alex said with a shrug and a smirk. "I may have told him that Kerry got purple lingerie."

Raph coughed a bit. "Ew! Did not need that image in my head!" He growled. "...Good job in breaking my brother though." He rolled his eyes. "Our water bill will be going up soon." He scoffed a bit.

"Why's that?" Alex asked. "I mean, it's one guy," she said, making it seem like she was only talking about Don. "How much water can one guy use?"

"Tch, the guy has advanced memory. Any image in his head lingers for a long time, he's always thinking." He laughed though his eyes shifted downward and his body language became defensive.

"Unless you mean to tell me there's someone else in the house that happens to take long showers," Alex said. "I, for one, _love _long, hot showers. I could spend hours in there." _Oh, I'm mean!_

Raph coughed a bit, shifting in his seat. "That so?" he asked pressing his back against the seat. "I-I uh..yeah I love them too," he said.

"You wanna know what else I really love?" she asked.

"W-What?" Raph gulped a bit.

"Full body massages," she said. "I had one this afternoon. It was wonderful. It got all the knots out," she told him. "It was a little cold though, seeing as I only had a towel. I really could have used that hot shower."

"Fu-" Raph said as he got up and left the room again, but seeing as Don was in the shower, he had to run to his room.

"You are a cruel mistress!" Mikey yelled at her his cheeks red, but otherwise fine.

Alex face was red, but she smirked. "It's nice to know I have an effect on someone," she muttered. "And I'm not going to do it often. I just, you know. It's nice to know someone finds me attractive in that way."

"How do you explain Don then!?" Leo asked incredulously.

"Oh, that's easy!" Alex said. "He obviously likes Kerry. And Kerry has a thing for him. I'm just trying to help things along."

"By torturing the poor guy?" Mikey scoffed as he popped a game in his consol.

"No, by finding out that he finds her attractive. Kerry wouldn't have believed me if I hadn't of asked," she said.

"Doesn't mean either one will do anything about." Leo said.

"No, but when I talk about them liking one another to them, they'll know I'm telling the truth, which will make them think about it. And thinking about it makes them want it. See where I'm going with this?" she said.

Alex got up and picked up her bag. "I've gotta head out," she said. "Uh, can we keep what you guys told me about Raph to ourselves?" she asked. "I mean, really, I swear I'm not going to do that again. I just, well, you know. I, uh, was afraid he'd think badly of me because I had it and knowing the opposite…"

"You got it, Alex," Leo said. "Honestly, I'd rather not think of it again. Ever."

"Thanks," Alex said. "Bye!" She closed the door behind her, but instead of turning to leave, she went down the hallway towards the bedrooms. She knocked of Raph's door gently and waited for an reply.

"Y-Yeah?" Raph asked thought the door.

"It's just me," she told him. "Can, uh, you open the door? I just, uh, gotta see you for a sec."

"A-Ah," Raph said breathlessly. "Give me a second?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, face growing hot thinking about what he may or may not have been doing. _Oh God, why didn't I just leave and tell him later? Stupid girl. _

Raph opened the door quickly and leaned against the frame. "Yeah?" he asked lowly.

Alex shivered at the tone of his voice. She gulped and leaned in, placing her hand on his cheek, kissing him softly on the other.

"A-Alex?!" Raph gasped pulling back quickly, green eyes wild.

"Thanks," she said. "For, uh, helping me. And, uh, not thinking anything badly about me because of it. It, uh…Thanks. I just, uh, wanted to tell you that before I headed out."

"N-No problem. It's no big deal." He murmured. "You're my best friend." He shrugged.

Alex smiled. "That may be true, but it's a big deal to me," she told him. "Thanks, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see you soon," he responded as the bathroom door opened and Don walked out. He looked at Alex for a few moments before his face turned red and he ran down the hall to his room. "...and try not to break my little brother," he chuckled.

Alex laughed. "No promises, _Babe_."

"Whatever _Babe_."


	21. Good News

Chapter 21

Good News

Alex ran out of the school, a huge smile on her face as she went through the front gates. Raph was parked right out front of his motorcycle. He had his helmet on the front of the bike, the one for Alex there too. She giggled, running up to him, taking his head in her hands and planting one right on his lips.

"Uh, A-Alex?" he gasped once she pulled away. "Miss me much?"

"You are never going to guess what I heard today!" she exclaimed, bouncing on her heels slightly, biting her lip.

"What?" Raph asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hun's in juvie!" she exclaimed. "And you know what that means?"

"You're safe!" Raph grinned. "That's awesome!" he said pulling her into a hug.

"I know!" she laughed, hugging him back. "Which means I can start walking over to your place on my own again. I don't need a babysitter anymore! Oh, freedom never tastes so good!" She pulled back to look at his face. He was no longer smiling as bright.

"I can still pick you up," he said, "It's no biggie," Raph promised.

"W-Well," Alex said. "I, uh, can't turn down a ride on the bike," she muttered, biting her lip, glancing down at the bike. "Kind of addicted, you know what I mean?"

"One ride on this baby and everyone is." Raph grinned in agreement. "Don builds the best bikes, he's got a great talent for this stuff. He knows how to get it just right." He smiled.

"I can't argue with that," she said. "But, uh, you won't come every day, will you? I mean, not that I don't appreciate it, and I love your company, it's just, well, now that I can walk on my own, it's one of the only times that I get to myself."

"Nah, we'll just stick to tutoring days." Raph shrugged. "Makes the most sense, you know."

"Raph, that's what I mean," Alex told him. "The other days I walk with Kerry on the way to work. She goes in the same direction for it too so it's not like I can avoid that. Not that I'm avoiding _you_! It's just, uh, this is harder than I thought." She cleared her throat and said. "Okay, how about you pick me up until it snows, because you obviously can't drive it in the snow."

"Deal," Raph said slowly nodding in agreement. "And if you ever need an emergency ride," he pointed out to her.

"You'll be the _first _person I call," she finished for him, a bright smile on her face.

"Then we have a plan." Raph smirked. "Now, hop on," he said.

Alex giggled, taking the helmet and putting it on before climbing on behind him, gripping his hips tightly, head resting against his back. "I'm going to miss these," she told him.

"Miss what?"

"The rides," she told him. "When it starts to snow. Feeling the rev of the engine under me. The speed." _Holding you. _"The adrenalin." _Being close to you. _

"I told you you can ride anytime you want." He laughed, his tone insinuating something else.

"You are such a perv!" she laughed, face red. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"What?" He blinked a bit. "My mind wasn't in the gutter. I meant I'd give you a ride whenever on my _bike_! Where was _your _mind?!"

"And I told you that I'd miss it when it snows! You can't drive motorcycles in the snow!" she exclaimed. "You're the one with the dirty mind!"

"Who says you can't?" He smirked. "Don has a few tricks up his sleeves."

"I'd rather play it on the safe side with this one," she told him. "If you have a car, on the other hand, then I wouldn't mind the ride."

"You'll have to see." Raph smirked a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes. "You are a stubborn mule," she told you, arms tightening slightly, hands making circles under his leather jacket. "And I would hit you if you weren't driving."

"Come on now, this is not a time for a quicky," he chuckled.

Alex blushed. "See! Mind in gutter! You're a pervert!"

"You were the one to put it in the gutter with your comment!" Raph said. "God, I be nice for one second and it makes me a pervert." He scoffed.

"You're the one that brought up quickly's!"

"You're the one who thought about riding me and not my bike!"

"Because that was what you meant!" Alex said. "You're such a liar," she laughed.

"No it was not!" Raph groaned. "I'm being serious!"

"I really want to hit you right now," Alex said.

"I could say the same!"

"You have never once hit me!" Alex told him. "I don't think you have it in you."

"Don't tempt me, woman."

"No balls," she pressed, smirk in place. _There's no way he's going to do it._ _He's too much of a gentleman to actually hit me._

Raph parked the motorcycle when they arrived and got off the bike. "Believe what you like," he shrugged as he pulled off his helmet,

Alex took off her helmet and got off, shaking out her hair to try and fix it from the wind and having been pressed down in the helmet.

As soon as she was up and his hand was cupped and swung to smack right into her ass, hard. Alex yelped from the shock, jumped and spun around to look at him with wide eyes and an extremely red face. "I might not hit ya, but I can spank a bad girl when she misbehaves," he said and walked away.

Alex bit her lip, watching him go. She couldn't believe he had actually done that! Ahd she couldn't believe she actually wanted him to do it again. _I am messed up, _she thought, shaking her head and making her way into the house. She avoided looking at Raph as she made her way to the couch.

"Hey Mike," Alex greeted, blopping down in her usual spot. "I've got some bad new for you," she told him.

Mikey's blue eyes turned sad as he turned his game off. "What's wrong? Can you not tutor me anymore?" he asked sadly, eyes growing more sad.

"What? Oh, no!" Alex assured him quickly. "It's not that! I meant it's practice test day!"

"...Damn it!" Mikey yelled and flopped down. He looked at her with puppy eyes. "Baaaaabbbbbyyyyyyycaaaaaakkkkkeeeessss! Don't do this!"

"Don't call her babycakes," Raph smacked him on the back of the head after arriving behind them on the other side of the couch.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so," Raph told him, taking up the armchair.

"I have no problem with him calling me babycakes," Alex said, smirking over at Raph, knocking it would bug him. And she knew he knew she was doing it to bug him. That was for spanking her! "But you still have to take the practice test."

"Damn," he muttered, taking the test from the girl after she took it out of her bag.

The phone in her pocket vibrated. She saw that it was front Kerry.

**Heterosexual Partner: ...penis**

"What the hell?" Alex muttered reading the text.

**Heterosexual Partner: It's all them and their stupid penis' fault!**

**Alex: What the hell are you talking about, Fruitcake?**

**Heterosexual Partner: Him and his stupid penis ruined me! **

"Hey Don?" Alex yelled towards the lab. She got up and headed over there in an attempt to leave Mikey in peace to take his test. "Have you talked to Kerry today?"

"Uh, yeah," he said. "She told me she was going to the dentist," he said as he looked over some blue prints.

"_Ooooh_," she said, glancing back down at her phone. "That explains her texts."

"Explains?" He asks

**Heterosexual Partner: RUINED ME! **

"She keeps saying someone with a penis ruined her," Alex said. "And that's it. I'm gonna say the drugs still haven't worn off."

"What?!" Don asked looking up at her and dropping his pencil. "Someone with a what?!" he asked panic on his face. A million thoughts could be seen going through his head.

"In Kerry language that means that dentist was a man and he ruined her by hurting her teeth," Alex said.

**Heterosexual Partner: He ruined me, he made me feel...he put feelings in me and made me feel them so hard!**

"Okay, now I don't think she's talking about the dentist," she added.

"What is she saying?!" Don asked and picked up his own cell, seeing no texts or calls from her. "Why hasn't she called me?" he murmured.

**Heterosexual Partner: He turned me into a girl! A girl with stupid feelings. **

**Alex: Are you talking about Donatello?**

**Heterosexual Partner: Donatello Fucking Hamato! Him and his stupid penis!**

"_Ooooooh_," she said, finally understanding the situation. "She's saying that she likes you. That you make her have feelings. And the medicine still hasn't worn off. Nevermind. I've got it figured out! Thanks!" She started to walk away but stopped and turned back when he spoke.

Don stared at her, his cheeks red as his hand drifted up to clutch the necklace that rested against his chest. "...wwwwhhhhhat?" He asked his face distressed and confused. "Then what about penises?"

"Uh, Don? You are a male," she said. "You have a penis."

"I know that!" Don groaned. "But what does it have to do with it?"

**Heterosexual Partner: Toothpaste is not good shaving cream. **

"Well, you know Kerry," Alex said. "Nothing really makes sense. That and she just said Toothpaste doesn't make good shaving cream. So don't worry about the whole penis thing."

**Heterosexual Partner: Are tiny pickles made from baby cucumbers or do they have to shrink them? I need this answer!**

Don put his face in his hands. "The woman is going to kill me. I think she literally makes me lose brain cells temporarily."

"That's probably not a bad thing, Don," Alex told him.

**Alex: GO TO SLEEP**

**Heterosexual Partner: SLEEP IS OF THE DEVIL**

**Alex: Then text Don. I don't want to talk to you when you're like this. You make no sense.**

**Heterosexual Partner: Well you know what? You know what? Your penis is stupid. Mine is smart.**

**Alex: Okay, then why don't you go talk to your smart penis? Leave me and mine alone. **

**Heterosexual Partner: FINE! Our friendship is errrrrrorred! **

**Alex: Okay, text me tomorrow.**

Alex shook her head, walking over to Raph. "Kerry's even weirder on drugs," Alex said. "And I didn't think she could get any weirder."

"Hick finally snap and go off the deep end?" Raph chuckled.

"She had to have a filling done," she told him. "She keeps referring to Don as her penis. And you as mine."

Raph choked on the soda he was drinking, between a laugh and a grunt of shock. "What?"

"Y-You know," she said. "Because of the whole fake dating thing?" she lied.

"I got that part yeah, but...why penis?" Raph asked furrowed eyebrows.

"Alex, why does Kerry keep asking me about baby pickle shrinking science magic?" Don called out.

"Beats me," Alex said. "Probably because I didn't answer her. I told her to text you instead." She rolled her eyes and turned back to Raph. "And really? I had to tell Don the same thing. You are a guy, right? You have a penis."

"But...but...but.." Raph sighed finally and gave up and walked to go punch the bag.

"You know, you're too tense," Alex said, watching him hit the punching bag. "I mean, I know you need to be a little for correct form, but you're _way _too tense." She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave a squeeze, feeling just how tight the muscles were, and not in a good way. "When was the last time you loosened your muscles up?"

"Uh, since before I met Mikey," Raph joked.

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Ignore him! Focus on your test!" Alex yelled at the blond before turning back to Raph. "Seriously, Raph. When was the last time you, I don't know, stretched, did yoga or got a massage?"

"I stretch for morning practice," he defended.

Alex crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. "Raph, I don't want you to pull anything," she said. "It's not fun."

"I'm not going to pull anything," he grumbled. "Stop being a worry wart."

"It's my job to worry about you," Alex said. "Have you ever gotten a massage before?"

He rolled her eyes at her. "No, I haven't," he scoffed.

Alex bit her lip, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "W-Would you like one?"

"What?" he asked her looking at her weirdly.

Alex shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "Do you want a massage?" she asked. "They feel great and it would help with your tension; loosen you up. I really don't want you to pull anything."

"I guess?" he said.

Alex smirked and quickly went to her bag and pulled out her hand lotion. Once back in front of Raph, Alex said, "Okay, take off your shirt."

"You mean now?!" he asked.

"Well, yeah," she said. "I'm not doing anything. Mikey's taking his test. Where do you want to do it, by the way?"

"D-Do it? W-What?"

"You have to lay down for the massage," she told him, rolling her eyes. "On the couch or do you want to lay down on your bed?"

"U-Uh my bed?" he asked as if scared it was the wrong answer.

"Why are you so nervous?" Alex asked him, pushing him towards the exit from behind. "It's a message, not rocket surgery."

"Did you just quote a commercial?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes," she answered. "Why are you so nervous?"

"I've never done this before, okay? Excuse me for being lost," he murmured as he shoved past her to go to his room.

"Aw, isn't that cute," she said., standing outside of the door. "You're clueless." She walked in and sat on the bottom edge of his bed.

"Shut up or I'll spank you again," he told her seriously.

Alex glared at him, but it wasn't really as intimidating as she had hoped it would be due to her deep red blush. "I'm not a child," she said. "I don't need to be spanked like one." _Though I'm pretty sure I didn't like getting spanked when I was little..._

"You act like one sometimes," he grumbled as he pulled his shirt off as he entered his room.

Alex opened the lotion and put some on her hands, leaving the bottle open to use in a moment. She rubbed her hands together, working in the lotion. "Like you should be talking," she scoffed.

"Tch, I don't act like one as much as you do," Raph mumbled as he laid down on his bed with a sigh.

"How do I act like a child?" she asked, scooting closer to the middle of the bed so she was closer to Raph's back.

"You get those panties of yours in a twist so easily," he chuckled a bit turning his head to look at her with a grin, more relaxed now.

"I think you're getting the two of us messed up," Alex said. She grabbed the bottle of lotion and said, "This'll be cold." She squirted some onto his back before closing it and putting it on his bedside table.

"I have a temper and get angry, I admit," he winced a bit at the cold, his muscles tensing, "but you are so easily to get flustered and embarrassed over little things."

Alex shifted, finding the angle she was at a little uncomfortable for the massage. She dealt with it and stood up, using one knee to balance herself as she leaned over. She gently worked in the lotion on his back, feeling his strong muscles under her hands. "I wouldn't necessarily call that being childish," she muttered, thinking about it with a slight blush on her face. "It could just be shyness," she said. "I mean, it's not like I'm used to it."

"You should get used to it," he joked, wincing again as she rubbed a particularly sore spot. "You're friends with four teenage boys with limited social interaction." he laughed.

"Right there?" she asked. "So? I mean, I think I can dish back some pretty good comebacks when needed."

"Cause you have brothers," he pointed out with a chuckle. "Ow, yeah, right next to the shoulder blade."

Alex focused her attention there until the knot was worked out and her fingers relaxed the area. "See? Doesn't this feel good?" she asked.

"It actually hurts a bit," Raph grumbled slightly. "But I assume it will feel better afterwards when all the knots are gone."

"It does," Alex said. "I mean, you'll be a little sore tonight, and maybe tomorrow, but it's better to get them out. You just have to get all the knots out right. Let the muscles relax and get used to not being so wound up. That's when it really feels good."

"Have you met my brothers? I'm always wound up." He laughed.

"That's why you have to take some time to yourself more," Alex said. "You're always with them, and you work out so much. You never give yourself a chance to just breathe and relax."

"It's not, _ow_, like you do that," he said.

"I do it more than you think," Alex said. She always made sure she tried to do a little something for herself. Whether it was a long shower, a warm bath or something a little more private, personal and so much more pleasurable.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," he grumbled.

Alex frowned, moving onto his neck. "Don't say that," she muttered. She used her knuckles, gently rubbing them down the length of his spine and then back up to his neck. "I don't want to think about you not being around," she admitted.

"Everyone leaves eventually." He murmured softly.

"Doesn't mean I want to imagine it," she said. "I just want to focus on the here and now. Enjoy my time with whoever while I can." She removed her hands, placing them on her hips. The angle was too awkward. "Can I, uh, try something?" she asked, face red.

"Yeah, go ahead." He shrugged, eyes closed.

Alex bit her lip, climbing onto the bed. She shifted on of her legs over Raph, while the other remained on the other side so she was straddling his rear, though not sitting on it. She was just kneeling. She placed her hands on his hips, leaning forward and pushing her hands up his sides to his shoulders, tracing the area between his shoulder blades. It was a much easier position to work from.

Raph grunted slightly in shock, body going tense. "Better position?" he guessed, closing his eyes again as he shivered slightly.

"Much," she said, feeling him shiver under her hands. "Now just _relax_. It's just me, Raph."

Raph started grumbling to himself under his breath but otherwise didn't say anything. He slowly relaxed as Alex kept working, taking every knot she found and worked it out. It wasn't much longer after that that she couldn't find anymore. "Feeling a little better?" she asked.

"Yeah," Raph sighed almost sheepishly. "Back doesn't feel as tight anymore."

Alex smiled softly. "Good," she said, hands running up to his neck and slowly into his hair, massaging his head. She figured she'd save the best part for last.

"Hey now, no taking advantage of little old me," Raph murmured, waking up instantly.

"Shhh," she hushed, rubbing his temple. "Just close your eyes and relax. It's not like I'm going to pull your hair."

"Easier said than done," he grumbled but listen otherwise. "And you better not."

"What do you think I'd do?" Alex asked. "I mean, I may tease sometimes, but I'd never do anything you wouldn't be comfortable with."

"Tch, payback maybe," he grumbled a bit.

Alex rolled her eyes and leaned forward, resting herself over top of him so that she could whisper right in his ear with a smirk, "Not everybody holds grudges like you do," before removing herself from on top of him. She popped down next to him, laying down.

"I am a pro." he chuckled a bit.

"Wow," she muttered, stretching out on his bed. She sighed and relaxed onto the comfortable surface. "You're bed's really soft. Then again, I think anything is better than my bed. I've got springs poking up out of mine and into my back."

"Do you need a massage?" He chuckled a bit.

Alex blinked. "What?" she asked, not believing her ears. "Oh! Don't do that! Don't tease me! Not when it comes to massages!"

"I'm not that good at them, but I can try," he said.

Alex bit her lip, extremely tempted by the offer. "Really?" she asked. "I mean, you don't have to. You can relax."

"Yeah, you gave me one. I'm more relaxed than I ever remember being so I'm good," he promised and sat up. "Uh, just how do you want to do it though? I mean, you had me take my shirt off, but I'm not going to ask you to take, uh, yours off."

Alex sat up and said, "I've got a tank top on under this. She unbuttoned her blouse and folded it, placing it on the bed next to her. "You can do it however you want," she assured him. "Over the shirt, o-or, uh, I can move it up."

He grabbed the lotion and put it on his hands."Which do you think is better for the massage?" Raph asked a bit as he sat over her like she did him.

Alex was so glad he couldn't see her face in the pillow. She was blushing so hard at the position they were in. "U-Under," she told him, burying her face into the pillow more, rolling up the bottom of her tank to until it was right where .

"Bra off?" he asked softly.

"W-We don't have to," she muttered. "I-if you're uncomfortable with it."

"N-No it's fine," he murmured. "Not like I can see anything, it's just your back."

"R-Right," she muttered. "Can you get up and turn around then?" she asked shyly.

"Yeah," he said and moved off of her and put his back to her again, looking at his wall.

Alex sat up and took off the bra under her shirt, tucking it inside her blouse so that it was out of sight before laying back down. "Okay," she told him. "I'm good."

Alex bit her lip, shivering when his hands made contact with her bare back, rubbing her lower back first before slowly making his ways up. Raph's hands made with way up her back until they hit the middle, feeling the indents of where her bra had been. "Do they normally leave marks?" he asked, referring to the indents.

"Not always," Alex said. "But sometimes."

"It doesn't look comfortable," he grumbled.

"Why do you think people joke about girls going home and taking them off and changing into sweat pants?" she chuckled lightly. "Because it's true most of the time."

"I can see why," Raph shrugged, "looks killer. Why do you girls wear them if they hurt?"

"Would you prefer a bunch a girls walking around braless?" she asked. "Wait, don't answer that. It's because, well, it's uncomfortable to walk around too long without it on. It's weird."

"Good call." he chuckled as she retracted her question. "Really? If it's uncomfortable either way which is more comfortable?"

"I'd prefer to wear it," Alex said. "If the one I have on gets too uncomfortable, I could always put on a sports bra. Those things are the _shi-ooooh, right there,_" she groaned, him hitting a particularly sensitive and pleasurable spot on her shoulders. His fingers froze for a moment before rubbing the spot. "_Mmmm_, there. R-ah-ight there."

"Here?" Raph asked as he rubbed a bit harder on the right side of his spine, near her shoulder blades. "Right here?"

"_Mmmhm_," she moaned, lazily nodding her head, hands clenching onto his bedspread. "_Oh_, do that again," she begged.

"Alright," Raph said as he leaned forwards to put more pressure as he rubbed there.

"Ah," Alex groaned pleasurably. "Oh _God_, that feels good."

"U-Uh." Raph said shifting uncomfortably.

Alex's eye shot open, mouth slightly agape as she realized what had just happened. She hid her face in the pillow and said, "Oh God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! W-We should stop."

"I-It's fine," he promised. "That just means I'm doing a good job," he said shyly.

"You're doing better than good," she muttered. "B-But we should probably stop now anyways. Mikey should be almost done with the test soon and I need to grade it."

"Right, well thanks," he said. "For the massage, I mean," he said, getting up off of her. He turned away so that she could get dressed.

In order for her to put her bra back on, Alex had to take the tank top off and then put the bra on. She slipped her hand top back on and stood up."Anytime," Alex told him, telling him he could turn back around as she buttoned her shirt. "Really, if you ever feel stressed out of tense, I'd be happy to give you one."

"Well, thanks," Raph said. "Same goes to you," he said as he turned around and stood up off the bed, putting his shirt back on.

"Oh, you shouldn't have said that," Alex chuckled. "Because I'm gonna take advantage of that offer."

"Go ahead," Raph laughed a bit as he headed towards the door.

Alex followed him out and back down to the common room, combing her fingers through her hair to make sure it was all still neat and in place. "Oh, I forgot to tell you," she said. "Drink a lot of water."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because massages dehydrate you," she said.

"Really?" Raph asked in shock.

"Yeah," Alex said. "Kneading and working muscle gets fluid pumping out of the soft tissue and into your circulatory system, where it heads toward your kidneys. Then there's the issue of metabolic waste, which is produced by muscles in the course of everyday function. When your muscles are tight or you've got a major knot, it constricts circulation in those areas, inhibiting the body's ability to flush out this waste. Drinking provides your kidneys with the water they need to effectively eliminate the waste."

"Alright I'll be sure to grab us some water bottles," he said and opened the door. "Now go check on the knuckle head."

"Thanks," she told him, heading over to the couch. "How's it coming, Mike?" Alex asked, laying down, setting her phone on the table.

"All...most...done!" he exclaimed holding out the test to her. "Where've you been?"

"Oh, uh," Alex muttered, taking the test from him. Raph walked over and lifted her head up, sitting down where she had been laying moment fore. He handed her one of the two bottles of water he held. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him and taking a swig.

"My back was killing me so she was making sure I didn't hurt it," Raph said as he sat down on the couch. .

"Yup," Alex muttered, taking out one of her pens and the key to the test. She slowly began marking the test when her phone rang. "Could someone answer that for me?" she asked, still focused on the test.

"I got it," Raph said and reached for her phone. "It's your mom." he said as he looked at the ID. "Hello Mrs. O'Neil," he said as he answered it as politely as possible.

Alex could just make out her mother talking on the other line. She smirked. _Of course my mom would get stuck talking to Raph. She'd going to love that! She'd been complaining about having not met him yet. _

"_Oh, I'm sorry. Who is this?"_ her mother asked.

"This is Raphael," the boy answered, gulping a bit. "I'm a friend of your daughters and brother of the boy she tutors."

"_Oh, darling, you don't need to be so vague! I know you and my daughter are dating!" _

Alex snorted. _That's mom. Not beating around the bush. _

"O-Oh well right," Raph coughed a bit. "Well, Alex is grading Mikey's practice test, can I pass a message or-"

"_Don't be in such a rush," _her mom said. "_Tell me a little about yourself, dear."_

"Uh, I'm uh, uh," Raph said looking rather uncomfortable. "I have three brothers." He said the first thing that came to mind.

"_No, honey, tell me about _you," she said. "_Alex talks about you _all the time, _but I've never gotten to meet you!"_

_Mom! Don't tell him that! _

"My weapon is the sai." Raph said thinking of something more personal. "She talks about me?" he asked as an after thought.

"_Oh, of course!"_ her mother said. "_She's very happy with you."_

_Mom! _Alex facepalmed, shaking her head. _Great, just great! What the hell is he going to think with that?_

"Well, um, thanks, Mrs. O'Neil. Your daughter's basically my best friend," Raph said honestly. not wanting to lie to the woman in a way so he played his words safe.

Alex glanced up at him for a moment and smirked before going back to the test.

"_You need to come have dinner with us some time, dear," _she insisted. "_I'm very excited to meet you. Anybody my daughter likes, I like."_

"Uh, that sounds nice, Mrs. O'Neil," Raph said.

"_Well, I don't want to keep you,"_ her mom said. "_Just promise me you two are being safe!"_

"Mom!" Alex yelled.

"_Anywho, I was just calling to tell Alex Elliot's coming home next week,"_ she said.

"_What_?" Alex screamed, dropping Mikey's test and lunging at Raph, stealing the phone away from his as she was practically on top of him. "Elliot's coming home?"

"_Yes,"_ her mother said. "_He's finished training. Now, don't stay out too late. You have school in the morn- MARCUS DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THOSE CUPCAKES!"_ The phone cut out at that.

Alex squealed, wrapping her arms around Raph's neck and kissed him deeply, but rather quickly before she got up. She was pacing the floor as she said, "Oh my God! We have so much to do!"

Raph sat there gaping at what just happened. This was too much. He put his head in his hands and shook out his spikes. "Give a warning, will ya?"

She didn't pay any attention to that. "Oh my God! _Elliot's _coming home!" she jumped back onto the couch, facing Raph, legs pulled up under her and her knees partially in his lap. She took his neck in her hands, forcing him to look at her, though he had already been doing so already."I haven't seen him in _three months_, Raph! Oh my God! He's coming _home_!"

"Congratulations?" He chuckled a bit. "Your brother, right? The eldest?"

Alex giggled and nodded her head. "Yeah, Elliot's three years older than me," she said. "He's twenty. And he's coming home! I can't believe it. I've missed him _so much_! Even his totally annoying habit of getting into _everything _he shouldn't! Oh how I miss yelling at him! Oh, Raph, he's coming home!"

Raph chuckled and patted her hair down. "Like I said congratulations. We're all happy for you"

Alex giggled. "I'm gonna kiss you now," she warned him before pecking him on the lips, not caring that everybody saw and that she was doing it without Amanda being there. "Oh, he's coming home! We'll be a whole again."

"More importantly, how did I do on my test?!" Mikey grumbled still sitting on the floor.

Alex blinked, turning her head towards Mikey. "Oh, right," she laughed. She shifted so that she was not longer practically on top of Raph anymore, acting as if she hadn't just kissed him at all. "Ah, let's see…." she muttered, studying it. "You got a….B+. Way to go Mikey!"

"I got a B?...I got a B?" Mikey asked taking the test back before standing. "I got a B!" He yelled before running around the room. "DON, I GOT A B!" he screamed. "LEO! LEOOO!"

Alex giggled and watched him run off to show his brothers. She glanced up at Raph and said, "Well, he's excited."

"So are you and it's only because you're a good tutor," Raph said slowly.

Alex shrugged. "He just needed a couple different ways of looking at the stuff," she said. "That's all. It's nothing."

"No, you did a good job, just like the idiot," Raph said smiling gently.

Alex blushed lightly. "Thanks, Raph," she said. "And I'm sorry about the whole unnecessary kissing thing," she said, her phone vibrerating. She picked it up as she said, "I, uh, well, you know. I got a little carried away."

**Heterosexual Partner: I want cupcakes...I'm making cupcakes. You don't get any cause your a bitch and so is your penis.**

**Alex: Okay you don't need my permission for that. **

Alex rolled her eyes. Then blinked. _Wait, Kerry was out of it an hour ago. _"Shit!" she yelled, getting up off the couch. "I've gotta go. Kerry's still out of it and she's heading to the stove!"

"She's what?!" Don yelled.

**Alex: STAY AWAY FROM THE STOVE!**

**Heterosexual Partner: STFU I do what I want!**

**Alex: No, no. I'll make them for you! What's better than making cupcakes and eating them? Having someone else make them for you. JUST STAY AWAY FROM THE STOVE!**

**Heterosexual Partner:...your bitch mouth is smart.**

Raph got up and followed her. "I'll drive you," he said. "It'll be faster."

"Thanks," she said.

The two headed out the door, quickly making their way to Kerry's place. Luckily for them, she listened to Alex and stayed away from the stove.

_Crazy woman. _


	22. Welcome Home

Chapter 22

Welcome Home

"I can't wait for you to meet him," Alex exclaimed, pulling Kerry up the stairs of her apartment building.

"Well, I won't get to if you keep pulling me like this and make me fall down the stairs." Kerry grumbled. "And did you forget I'm carrying a dish?" She chuckled.

"You fall up the stairs anyway," Alex pointed out.

"I'm getting better." Kerry pouted at her as they made it to her floor.

"Oh really?" Alex asked. "I doubt that. You've tripped like three times on the way over here!"

"Because you were pulling me!"

"Details, details," Alex muttered. "Hurry _up_, Kerry!

"I'm coming!" she hissed as she followed her friend.

"You are going to _love _Elliot," Alex insisted.

"We'll have to see." Kerry mumbled. "He might not like me, that's the problem."

"Psh," Alex huffed. "That's a good one."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm telling you, Kerry. Elliot's going to love you," she said. "I know my brother."

"Whatever you say." Kerry mumbled as she stopped in front of the door, not really feeling like bursting in like she had gotten used to.

"Kerry," Alex said, nudging her slightly. "You gotta trust me on this. He's going to love you as much as I do."

"Like I said,we'll see about that." Kerry sighed before taking a deep breath.

Alex rolled her eyes and quickly smacked Kerry in the back of the head before turning the handle of the door, promptly opening it. She stepped in, holding the door open for a rather nervous Kerry.

She girl sighed and stepped in, balancing the dish on her arm. "Screw you, Alex."

"No, I think that's supposed to be her new boyfriends job," a deep yet playfully boyish voice said. Before anything else could be done or said, a tall, deep red haired, green eyed young man ran over and hugged the girl, picking her up off the ground and spinning her in circles. "_Munchkin_!" he exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek.

"Ellie!" she yelled, hugging him back.

"Oh, it's good to see you!" he placed her back on the ground, leaving one arm around her shoulders. "Remind me to kick this kid's ass, by the way."

"U-uh," Kerry murmured easing away as if she expect him to tackle her next.

"Elliot," Alex said, wrapping her arm around her brother's waist, hugging him. "This is my best friend Kerry. Kerry, this is _Dick_."

"Hey Dick," Kerry said raising her hand in a slight wave as she clutched the dish closer. Oh god did she just say that?

A deep, throating, genuine laugh came out of his throat. Elliot smirked, sticking his hand out to shake Kerry's, "It's nice to finally meet you," he said. "Munchkin's told me a lot about you.

"I'm used to her trash talkin'" the southern belle said and took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly.

Before she could pull away, however, Elliot pulled her forward, taking the dish in her hands with one hand and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. "Oh, yeah, you're so not getting away without a hug," he laughed. He let her go a moment later, keeping the dish and looking at the content. "Yes! Cookies!" he exclaimed. "Can we keep her? Please?"

"He touched me, Alex," Kerry said, thankfully a smirk was in place and not full out panic. "And Marcus already asked her that."

"Oh, I don't mean it like Marcus does," Elliot said. "I don't want to marry you. I want to keep you as a slave. Do you want to live in the closet or the basement storage area we're given?"

"Psh, I'd be the best freakin' wife," Kerry scoffed at him. "You wouldn't be able to even handle this. And I'd be taking your bed if I was a slave."

"Psh," he mocked back. "I don't' want you. I'm already on Scarlett Johansson's speed dial."

"Oh, please, Dick," Kerry scoffed. "Don't make me take those cookies back."

"I'd like to see you try, Dubois," Elliot scoffed with a smirk.

"A girl's gotta be tough now a days, better watch that mouth," Kerry said eyes narrowing.

"Oh, I _like _this one. She bites back!" he laughed. "You're a keeper. Much better than _Richard_."

"Elliot," Alex scolded softly, though she didn't seem to push the subject very much, seeing as Fred hadn't really been around lately. He hadn't been eating lunch with them lately, claiming he had to do some work in the library.

"You and me both." Kerry whispered to Elliot. She took the cookies and headed to the kitchen.

"What can I say, Munchkin? I'm inclined to hate on the guy. He was your best friend and now he's ditching you. I want to smash his face in, rip off his di-"

"Okay, we get your point, Ellie," Alex interrupted. "But tonight isn't about him or me. It's about you being back!" Alex exclaimed wrapping her arms around his neck.

He kissed her on the head and then bent down, picking her up over his shoulder. "Okay, it's time to watch some hockey!"

"Put me down!" Alex yelled, hitting her brother on the back.

"Okay, if you insist," she said, throwing her on the couch before sitting on her back.

"Get off, fatass!" she groaned.

Kerry came back in the room and saw this scene before her. She looked between Alex and Elliot before shrugging and joining the man on top of her best friend.

"Don't encourage him, Fruitcake!" Alex groaned.

"Technically he's encouraging me, Dorkfish," Kerry said bouncing a bit.

"Ooooh, _Dorkfish_, I like that," he said, high fiving Kerry.

"Why thank you, I think it's classy." Kerry shrugged a bit.

"You know what?" Alex grumbled. "Fuck you two. Go back to Texas and Japan."

"Aww, don't' be a buttmunch, Munchkin," Elliot said, ruffling her hair.

"Donnie is here soooo no." Kerry shrugged.

"Help!" Alex yelled to anybody in the apartment.

"Scream as much as you want," Elliot said. "Nobody's here."

"Where'd they go?" she asked curiously, trying to turn her head to look at them, but wasn't getting very far.

"The guys are at the dojo," he said. "They'll be here for dinner. Mom and Dad went to go get some Italian bread."

Kerry leaned down and gave her ear a lick.

"EW!" Alex spazed. "What the fuck, Kerry?"

"Whaaaaat?" Kerry asked. "How could I pass that up?"

"Easily," Alex said. "That's disgusting! You're mouth will taste like earwax!"

Elliot looked at the black haired girl and made a face. "I'm not kissing you."

"Oh, gee, so heartbroken." Kerry said. "I'm going to cry myself to sleep tonight over that one."

"I know, I'm sorry. I know I'm every girl's dream boy. You should try and contain your disappointment though. I mean, it is my welcome back party and all."

"Bu-But I can't!" Kerry said dramatically falling against him dramatically. "I love you! I fell in love with you during these two minutes I've known you," she said putting a hand to her forehead as if she was Juliet.

"Alas, my girl, you must go on," Elliot t said. "Go on, see the world. Do things that would make me proud. And eat as much cheese as you possibly can."

"Like bungee jumping?" Kerry said. "I already do the cheese thing. It makes everything like infinitely better."

"Of course!"

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Alex grumbled. "Don, I need Don here. He'd make me feel smart. And he'd distract Kerry. So then Kerry wouldn't be a problem."

"We can hear you!" Kerry said. "...but that boy is distracting." Kerry said biting her thumb.

"Oh, boy talk!" Elliot exclaimed. "Go on," he said in the girliest voice he could muster up, which sucked due to how deep his voice was. "Tell me _all _about him, darling. Spill the dirty deets."

"...that was so pathetic." Kerry laughed a bit. "And no, I'm not telling you the deets, dirty or otherwise."

"Don's Raph's brother," Alex confessed. "And Kerry's in love with him!"

"I am _not_ in love with him and what happened to girl code, bitch?" Kerry asked.

"Didn't you just hear?" Alex asked. "Ellie _is _a girl."

"Yes, I am," he said in his normal deep voice.

"A test to make sure then," Kerry said thoughtfully. "Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans?"

Elliot scoffed. "There's no right answer to that," he said. "I mean, come on! RDJ is amazing and Chris Evans is sexy as fuck."

"She passes." Kerry smirked.

"Can you get off me now?" Alex asked. "It's getting hard to breathe."

"Are you calling me fat?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, now get off!"

"You mean you _don't_ like my fabulous ass on top of you?" Kerry asked.

"No, get off!"

"B-But it's so fabulous!" Kerry said sounding close to tears. "How could you not agree?!"

Elliot shifted, squashing Alex, causing her to groan as he looked at Kerry's butt. "You do have a fabulous ass," he told her.

"I-I know." Kerry pretended to sniff.

"You two are fucking stupid," Alex laughed. "GET OFF!"

"Fine." Kerry sighed and hopped up.

"Damn," Elliot groaned, getting off. "She caves far too easily." He helped his sister sit up before plopping down next to her, arm on the back of the couch behind her.

Kerry went to take off her shoes and jacket by the door.

"I like her," Elliot told Alex while Kerry was gone. "She's good for you."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh, thanks."

"No, really," Ellie said. "This relationship is far healthier than what you had with Fred. Keep her around, Alex. I mean it."

Alex glanced up into her brother's green eyes. "Thanks," she said. "It means a lot to me that you like her."

"Hell yeah, she's the shit," he said, joing back to his more playful side.

"Who's the shit?" Kerry asked, walking about into the room.

"Jennifer Love Hewitt," he answered. "I mean, have you _seen _her in Ghost Whisperer? She's badass _and _she talks to Ghosts! I want to talk to ghosts!"

"I know right!" Kerry agreed

"I could kill you, if you'd like," Alex said. "Then you can _be _a ghost."

"Tempting offer," he said. "How would you do it? Poison? Burning alive? Oh, how about decapitation?"

"You have problems," Alex stated.

"Don't we all, baby sister," he chuckled. "Don't we all."

"Trust me, I vouch for it." Kerry said raising her hand.

"See, DuBois agrees!" Elliot said. "But change of subject! Tell me about this boyfriend of yours that I have to go castrate."

Alex gulped, looking over at Kerry. "Uh, well," she muttered. "You see…"

"You're not going to tell me he's a she and that you're gay, are you? Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just think you'd have more class coming out to me than this."

"No no no no!" Kerry assured him. "It's just that they're not really dating. They're fake dating...fating if you will."

Elliot glanced at her strangely for a moment before his green eyes locking on Alex. "What?" he asked firmly.

"Uh, you remember Amanda, right?" she asked.

"Blonde bimbo bitch?" he asked.

"In her full skankiness,"Kerry answered

"You see, she, uh, kind of bullied me," Alex said. "One thing lead to another and, well, fating?"

"And the way you fix that is by fake dating?" he asked. "Well, I guess that kind of works, but why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"You were in Japan?" Alex said. "And we haven't told anybody else. Raph's family knows, Kerry knows and so does Fred, but that's it. You know how mom and dad would react if they found out. Same with the boys. I thought it was best just to tell you in person and avoid the risk of them hearing us over the phone."

"It was for her protection so we decided that only a few people should know about it," Kerry said crossing her arms.

"And you're sure he's not just using you?" Elliot asked protectively. "Because I swear to God if he is-"

"Ellie, you don't have anything to worry about," Alex said. She had a small, soft smile on her face as she went on. "Raph's a good guy. He's one of my best friends and he cares. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"He checks out, bro," Kerry said placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'd kick his ass if he didn't."

Elliot sighed, running a hand through his hair before nodding. "Okay," he said. "Find, your secret's safe with me." He relaxed slightly and then smirked, "So tell me about this fake boyfriend you obviously have feelings so."

"H-How did you know I liked him?" Alex stuttered, face beet red.

Elliot scoffed. "_Puh-lease_, you don't give me enough credit, Munchkin," he said. "I know you better than that. You obviously like him from the way you talk about him and that goofy smile you get on your face."

"He's a hothead," Kerry said automaticly.

"And a little over confident," Alex thought. "And he doesn't have the best way of communicating with others."

"He's protective, even more than me," Kerry said with a scoff.

"What about me?" Elliot asked. "Is he more overprotective than me?"

"He just might be," Kerry said.

"It's a toss up," Alex thought. "Ellie can get really protective."

"He acts like a dick but he can be a sweet guy." Kerry assure him.

"You can't call him sweet to his face though, or he kind of gets defensive," Alex said. "But he really is sweet. He'd do anything for the people he cares about."

"He is basicly a Tsundere!" Kerry said with realization.

"Yes!" Elliot exclaimed, causing Alex to roll her eyes.

"The only reason you know that is because you watch Anime Porn," Alex scoffed.

"Hey, _Free!_ is not Anime porn!" Elliot said. "It is a show of friendship between teammates who share a love of swimming!"

Alex sighed, facepalming. "Why do I bother with you?"

"Because he is amazing!" Kerry said hugging Elliot around his shoulders, and smushing faces with him.

"See, she loves me! You should treat me more like she does, Buttmunch!" Ellie said.

"I give you another hour before you want to kill him, Fruitcake," Alex said.

"Meh, my list of love and hate often gets mixed up anyway, it switches on the hour."

"Except with Don," she pointed out.

"Shut up! I hate him too sometimes...just less than normal people." Kerry defended. "I-it's not like he's special or anything!"she said her own tsundere showing.

"Do I sense a Tsundere there?" Elliot teased.

"Don't go there," she told him.

"Tsundere Kerry," he said. "It has a ring to it. Tsundere Kerry! Tsundere Kerry!"

"I am not tsundere!" Kerry said smacking his cheek. "I challenge you to a duel for my honor!"

Alex and Elliot glanced at one another before cracking up laughing. Kerry joined in and stuck her tongue out with a giggle.

"You wouldn't be able to beat him even if you wanted to, Kerry," Alex told her. "You know how the two of us are evenly matched and can beat my other bros? Well, _I've _never won against Elliot. _Ever_."

"Holy crap. Is he...is he Master Splinter level?" Kerry blinked.

"Hell no! Nobody's Master Splinter good," Alex said.

"Who's got a massive splinter?" Elliot asked.

"_Master_ Splinter," Kerry said seriously. She had a certain respect for the old man.

"Master Splinter is Hamato Yoshi," Alex said. "Raph's dad."

"Wait, Hamato Yoshi?" he asked, face falling serious.

"Yeah, why? You hear of him before?" Alex asked.

"Uh, yeah," he muttered, leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Alex asked, leaning forward to look at it im the face, concerned for his sudden change.

"Uh, nah," he said, smiling and relaxing back on the couch. "It's nothing. Just thought I heard of him before. Nothing important."

"If it's Master Splinter I want to hear," Alex said. "I love that man. He's amazing."

"Like I said, it's nothing," Elliot told her, voice stern. He was using his final voice, which despite how much Alex pressed, was most definitely final. She looked at him for a moment before deciding to let it go.

"Okay," she said slowly. "If you're sure, Ellie."

But Alex wasn't going to forget about it. There weren't many things that Elliot got that serious over, and when there was something, it was always something big and important. However, Elliot always had them under control. It worried her, but she was going to let it go and just keep an eye on him, scoping out to see if she could get anything out of him about it without setting him off too much.

"No! Screw the Blackhawks! Come on Rangers! Shove their faces into the ice!" Elliot yelled, attention pulled to the hockey game on the TV. Kerry rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out.

Alex just rolled her eyes and shook her head. Oh, it was good to have her Hockey buddy and brother back.

"Ellie?" she said.

"Yeah, Munchmallow?" he asked.

Alex leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "It's good to have you home."

He glanced down at her and gently kiss the top of her head, pulling her under his arm securely. "It's good to be home, Alex."


	23. Just An Average Night

Chapter 23

Just An Average Night

Alex and Elliot bowed to one another slowly, keeping their eyes one one another as they did so. Once that was down, the two got into their defensive positions, ready to start their sparring match. Nobody was in the dojo except for the two. Classes has been cancelled that weekend in order for the family to spend some time with Elliot. Everybody was taking advantage of not having early morning glasses that day. They were all sleeping in. Everybody except for Elliot and Alex.

Elliot was the first to attack, bringing his leg up to kick the girl in the side. Alex blocked using her arm, but the kick was so strong that she had to back up in order to regain her balance. Alex regained her balance and moved quick, throwing a punch towards she oldest brother. He blocked, but she shifted into a kick, blocking it just like she had done with his.

Elliot spun out, going into a roundhouse kick. Alex stepped back and avoided it, but Elliot knew she would do that. He lowered himself to the ground and kicked out Alex's feet from under her. The redheaded girl tell to the ground on her back. She rolled over just as Elliot got ready to strike the girl in the stomach with his foot. He landed and didn't have enough time to get back to his feet before Alex, who was on her knees like her brother, threw a punch.

She punched left, right, left, getting blocked each time. While he was distracted blocker her attacks though, she managed to jump to her feet. She raised her leg to kick, but Elliot grabbed her leg securely over his shoulder. He threw the girl to the ground on her back and thrusted his fist to her head. He stopped right before it landed, however, indicating the "Final Blow."

Alex narrowed her eyes and got up to her feet. She got back into a defensive position, ready for another bout against the strongest O'Neil child. There was no way she was going to give up after one fight.

Elliot smirked and swung left. He swung right. Each punch Alex blocked. He swung high, giving Alex the chance to duck and swing out herself. He kicked her thigh and then went to kick out her foot out from under her, but she lifted it up, trying to knee him in the stomach.

While he was still turning from his kickout, Alex raised her leg and went to kick her brother in the stomach. He managed to move quickly and block though. He was thrown off enough to where Alex could grab onto his shirt and spin him around. She tried to kick out his feet, but he blocked with his own, stepping backwards, having a hold her her shirt now as well. Not getting anywhere, Elliot decided to end that bout quickly, rolling onto his back. he brought his foot up, kicking Alex in the stomach as he throw her over him.

Alex landed on her back with a huff, but quickly got up as Elliot did. The older redhead kicked out from the left. Alex blocked, stepping back. He kicked right. She blocked again and hand to lean back as he kicked towards her head. He went to punch the girl, but ALex moved, grabbing onto his arm and using all of her wait to swing him around. Elliot ended up using his own momentum against the girl, grabbing onto her arms that was grasping his. He moved and got lower so that her arm was over her shoulder. He pulled her over his shoulder, throwing her to the ground onto her back. She landed with another huff, quickly getting up before he could end the bout.

Elliot kicked out again to the left, she blocked. He kicked her in the stomach, sending her stagger for several steps. Before she had the chance to react, Elliot spun out in the air, kicking the girl in the face, knocking her to the ground, holding her nose and the side of her face.

"Shit! Oh my God, Alex!" Elliot yelled, sliding onto the ground next to her, moving her to get a look at what he did. "I am so sorry! I thought you'd duck! I didn't want to hit you. _Oh shit._ I'm so sorry!"

"Mmhm," she hummed, holding her bleeding nose. Elliot helped her up and brought her over to the bench. He grabbed a towel and handed it to the girl to help stop the bleeding. "Dick," she teased once the bleeding finally stopped. She rubbed the side of her head, feeling the bruise already starting to for. "Damn, Elliot. That training really paid off," she said. "You never used to kick that hard."

"I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed again.

"It's okay," Alex told him. "Things like this happen. It's no big deal. Except when Kerry comes after you. She'd not going to be happy about it. And Maybe Raph."

"Great, and I thought I was on her good side!" Elliot huffed. "And fuck Raph. I can take him. I have to beat him anyway."

"Why?" she asked.

"I have to make sure he never hurts you," Elliot told her. "It's my duty as your oldest brother."

"Puh-lease!" Alex said. "You just don't like the fact that he's kissed me."

"Okay, two beat downs," Elliot said.

"I'm going to shut up now," Alex muttered.

"You are going to have one hell of a bruise there," he said, studying her face.

"Thanks," she grumbled. "Like I don't already have enough of those because of regular training."

"That's because you suck," he teased.

"I do not!" Alex protested. "I'm one of the best here! And I can hold my own against you longer than most!"

"True," he said. "You could probably beat most to of the people I was training with too."

"Really?" she asked. "Cool."  
"Excuse me," a voice said, pulling the two out of their conversation.

Alex looked over to see a very well dressed man in a suit. He had gray hair, slicked back neatly with dark sunglasses on, which he promptly took off and stuck into his breast pocket. He walked in and instantly Elliot stood up, bowing to the man. Alex, seeing her brother do so, knew he must respect the man a great deal. She got up and bowed to him as well.

"Elliot," the man greeted.

"Sir," Elliot said.

It was weird hearing Elliot talk so formally. Alex glanced at him strangely before looking back to the man.

"If you aren't too busy, I would like a word with you," the man said.

"Of course, Sir," Elliot said. He looked at Alex and nodded before making his way over to the man. "Don't wait up, Alex," he called to her.

The man nodded to the girl, a small smile on his face. His eyes studying her a great deal, though Alex didn't know quite why. Alex bowed to the man once more before turning and heading up the stairs. She had to change and get ready to go out and meet the guys and Kerry. They were having lunch together at the restaurant Kerry worked at.

However, she couldn't get that man out of her head as she got ready. Who was he? Why did Elliot respect him so much? What business did they have to discuss? And why did he look like he knew something about Alex that she didn't herself know? She sighed. She had no idea if any of that was really important, but she was determined to find out.

* * *

Alex was running a little late, which was very unusual for her. Normally she was always early. But thanks to the beat down she had gotten from Elliot, she took longer to get ready due to the stiffness in her neck from getting kicked in the head and the bruises on her arms from her defensive blocks. Elliot really _did _kick hard.

"A-Alex!" Kerry cried out as she walked in, standing up from their table and racing over. She hugged the girl as she sniffled. "I-It's horrible."

"Ow, Kerry!" Alex groaned, feeling her press the bruises on her arms. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I-It's horrible," Kerry repeated holding her tighter.

"What is horrible?" Alex pressed, trying to get of the girl's hold. _Ow, ow, ow._

"T-They," Kerry mumbled before glancing over at the new build in stage at her restraints center. "They added animatronics," she said in horror.

"You've been watching too many playthroughs of Five Nights At Freddy's," Alex said, rolling her eyes, finally able to get out of her hold.

"I am going to be working with spawns from the deepest parts of hell!" Kerry said as they walked over to their table.

"You're over reacting," Alex told her.

"Oh you can say that at my funeral after I go missing!" Kerry said. "She was just over reacting!" She said before finally looking at her. "Holy Shit!" she said seeing her face.

"Oh, _thanks_," Alex muttered. "That makes me feel oh so beautiful."

"Well, what do you expect!" Kerry said. "God, who the hell kicked you in the face?!" Kerry growled. "You are so lucky the guys aren't here yet."

"Elliot," Alex told her. "We were sparring."

"You promise me?" Kerry said seriously.

"Yeah," Alex told her. "He expected me to duck, but I didn't recover as fast as he thought I would so…" she said pointing to her face. Alex sat down at the booth and relaxed, leaning her head back against the booth. "My face hurts," she groaned. "And I don't want to move. Kerry, tell me I don't have to move."

"Well are you hungry?" Kerry chuckled. "Cause you'll have to move it to eat."

"I'm hungry, but I don't wanna move!" she whined jokingly. "Kerry, feed me."

"I'm not feeding you." Kerry rolled her eyes.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaase," Alex begged. "My idiot brother made it hard to move my neck!"

"I'll massage it but I will not demean myself by feeding you, woman!"

"No, touching it hurts," she sighed. "You're no help, Fruitcake. Whatsoever."

"Lick my-" Kerry started to say. "Oh hey here come the guys. Finally, I'll have more protection from the evil robots than your useless body to use a shield."

"Hey, I am not useless!" Alex protested quickly, flinching as she spoke too quickly, causing her jaw to hurt. "Ow."

"Oh yeah, you'd be great against them, have fun being stuffed into a spring trap suit!"

"You're paranoid," Alex accused, moving in further into the booth so everybody could fit in. She then laid down her head on the table lazily. The guys all filed into the restaurant, easily finding the two girls and moving their way over.

"Hey there's my gir-Ahhhh!" Mikey screamed seeing Alex's face. "Oh my god!"

"Way to make a girl feel beautiful, Michelangelo," Alex shot jokingly.

"Alex, what happened?" Leo asked in worry. "Did Hun get out of juvie?"

"What? Oh, no," she told them, as if it wasn't a big deal, which it wasn't. "It was jus-"

"Don't lie to us, Alex," Raph warned a bit crossing his arms. "We'd find out," he said obviously worried.

"Really, it wasn't Hun," Alex insisted. "It was Elliot."

"Who?" Mikey asked.

"That's your brother, right?" Don asked.

"Yeah, we were jus-"

"He hit you?!" Raph asked in a growl.

"Technically, he kicked m-"

"He _kicked you?_" Raph raved.

"Let her finish, Hothead!" Kerry growled right back.

"We were _sparring_," Alex told him. "He didn't mean to hurt me. You know how sparring gets sometimes. It wasn't intentional."

"O-Oh," Raph deflated.

"See?" Kerry grumbled. "God, that was annoying."

"Let me tell you, _Dick _kicks hard," Alex muttered, gently rubbing her cheek.

"Dick is a dick," Kerry nodded slowly.

"What?" Don blinked in confusion.

"I call my brother Dick sometimes," Alex told them. "He calls me Munchkin, Buttmunch, Munchmallow and anything else with Munch in it."

"You have a really weird relationship." Mikey murmured as he sat down.

"Wait until you meet him," Alex told them with a laugh, "It'll make perfect sense then. Don't you think so, Kerry?"

"He's okay," Kerry shrugged a bit looking away. "I-I mean, he's not too bad." she said refusing to show her affection for the man.

"Oh come on! You were getting along great with him," Alex said, disappointed in the fact that she wasn't agreeing with her outright. "You both sat on me together for crying out loud!"

"That was pretty awesome." Kerry nodded with a slight smirk.

"Yes! Thank you!" Alex yelled, raising her arms in triumph. "_Ow_." Alex whined putting her hand back to her jaw. "Fuckin' Dick."

"This really is the time and place for that Alex." Kerry rolled her eyes. "Honestly Alex, have some decency." Kerry sniffed jokingly pompous.

Alex rolled her eyes and glared at Kerry. "Lick my clit, bitch."

"You wish," Kerry scoffed as the guys rolled their eyes and all got into their usual spots around the table.

Alex stuck her tongue out at the girl. "_You_ wish they'd get rid of the robots."

"I dooooo," Kerry drew out as she ducked her head to stare suspiciously at the wooden crates being brought into the restaurant now. "They're here," she said lowly.

"Who's where?" Mikey asked excitedly.

"Animatronics," Kerry said to him gravely. "I'm working with. They're here." she said inching to hide behind Don a bit.

"And why is that a problem?" Leo asked, completely perplexed.

"Too much Five Nights At Freddy's," Alex stated, taking a drink of her water.

"Five Nights at What?" Raph asked.

"It's a video game," Alex told him. "The game centers on the fictional pizza restaurant Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where the player must act as a night security guard, defending himself from the malfunctioning animatronic animal characters by tracking their movement through the facility using security cameras. Otherwise they'd stuff him into a suit, crushing his body."

"K-Kerry no!" Mikey said taking her hand. "You have to quit! Before they kill you!"

"Oh don't tell her that," Alex groaned, leaning against Raph slightly to emphasize her point. "She'll never shut up about it."

"You know that's not real, right?" Don said.

"B-But their eyes," Kerry muttered, "they're just so, so _evil_! How could I not be scared of them!"

"You would not last against those things if it was real." Raph laughed at the girl only sending her more into a panic.

"Not _helping_, Raphie Boy," Alex muttered, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Oh god, I'm going to die." Kerry cried putting her face in her hands, Don gently placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "My body is going to be stuffed into a suit!"

"You need to quit, Kerry! And we're never coming back here again!" Mikey exclaimed.

"B-But my favorite burgers are here!" Alex protested.

"And I like having cash that's mine," Kerry mumbled. "Welp, guess I'm dying for minimum wage then. Just come find my body in the morning, kay Mikster?"

"Noooo Kerry!" Mikey wailed.

"It's not like you're the one standing night watch," Alex said. "_That's_ when they're supposed to attack, right? You shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"I work night shift though!" Kerry said to her. "Five to ten."

"But you're not here alone, are you?" Leo asked.

"Tch," Kerry grumbled. "Might as well be. The other hostesses totally ditch leaving me and the waitress to clean up."

"Dishwashers are around though," Don said. "Right?"

"True, but they're in the back, I work the showroom on my own while the waitress closes the register out." Kerry muttered. "It's bad enough I get the creeps walking to my car most nights now robots killing me! Gah!." Kerry said hitting her forehead on the table.

"I could come walk you to your car if you'd like," Don said.

"Don," Kerry turned her head to look at him with a slight smile in place. "You're going to walk all the way from your house just to walk me to my car?" she chuckled a bit.

"I-If it makes you feel safer, of course I will," Don told her. "I don't want you to be scared."

"D-Don that would be ridiculous, but...I could call you when I'm walking to my car," Kerry compromised.

Don nodded hesitantly. "All right," he said. "I can live with that."

Raph nudged Alex and rolled his eyes, making a gag me motion when his nerdy brother wasn't looking. Alex nudged him back, swatting his leg with her hand. "It's _cute_," she whispered to him. "They're getting closer. That's in no way gross," she scolded him.

"It's just, sickeningly cute," Raph grumbled. "Way too sweet for my taste."

"Well, I think it's _adorable_," she gushed. "And, personally, I'd like to see more of it."

"I just want him happy, that's all I care about," Raph grumbled a bit.

"And he's happy being sickly cute," Alex said. "So shush, _Babe_."

"Don't tell me to shush," Raph grumbled as a waitress came by and took their orders.

"Oh, I'll tell you to shush whenever I please," she scoffed.

Raph smacked her leg gently. "No you don't."

"_Shush_," she said teasingly.

Raph moved his hand so it could grab her knee. "I'm warning you."

Alex blushed slightly at his touch, but it wasn't anything too unbelievably embarrassing. She rather enjoyed his hand there. She narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to him, daring him with: "Shush."

Raph narrowed his eyes and moved further up and further onto the inside of her leg. "Watch it."

Alex stiffened. Her face completely red. _Relax, _she told herself. _He's not doing anything. He's just,_ Alex gulped, _he's just resting his hand there. Yeah, that's all. It's not like you're wearing a dress or anything. And it's not like he'd move his hand higher under the dress. Slipping into...Oh fuck..._Alex quickly reached for she glass of water, hoping that by drinking the cool liquid, it would help cool her internally.

"Hmm, good girl," he said.

Alex hated it when it when he won. What else could he do? He wasn't brave enough to go farther. Alex knew that for a fact. It was far too personal and Raph, though a tease, was polite and wouldn't do that to a girl he wasn't actually dating, let alone one of his best friends in front of his brothers and the girl's best friend.

Alex glared at him. And despite her embarrassment, she said, "Shush," again because she knew he wouldn't do it. And she wasn't going to lose.

Raph glared, reached back down and put his hand back, pinching her leg.

Alex blushed deeper, but continued to glare. She wanted him to be just as embarrassed as she was by that, and she knew exactly how to do it. Alex placed her hand over his, pinning it in place, making him unable to retract his hand from the inside of her thigh. She turned her attention up to his face to see that his face was completely and utterly in shock. He tried to pull his hand away, but Alex glared even more holding it there.

"Hey! Quit feeling each other up over there!" Kerry said suddenly catching on to them.

Alex and Raph both jumped, his hand slipping off her leg and into his own lap. Alex opened her mouth and tried to say something several times, but she couldn't seem to find words through her embarrassment.

"God, I was just saying that. Don't tell me you guys actually _were _feeling each other up." Kerry blinked. She then bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"No," Alex muttered.

"Oh my gosh you were!" Mikey laughed with Kerry.

"No, I wasn't," Raph growled.

"No, he was-"

"And she-

"That's why-

"They're not making any sense," Leo pointed out.

"Which means they're lying!" Kerry said in an accusatory manner with a grin.

"No we're not!" both protested.

"Ohh doubled with talking in sync? Totally lying." Mikey snickered at them.

Alex, utterly embarrassed, stood up and got out of the booth without having Raph get out first. She pushed her way out and muttered, "Bathroom," before making her way down the hallway.

"_AAAAAAAHHHH!"_

Kerry jumped to her feet and just about shoved Raph onto the floor to get past him. Note to self, no more booths. Raph got up and chased after her, followed by his brothers.

"Alex!" Leo yelled as she rounded the corner with the group.

"Omigodomigodomigod," she muttered, pressing herself against the wall, handing covering her mouth, tears running down her face. "C-clown. It's a clown." Raph moved in front of the girl, pulling her to his chest to try and calm her down as she continued muttering, "Ohmigod, it's a _clown_." She clutched onto Raph's shirt, hiding her face in his chest.

"See! Evil!" Kerry said pointing to the animatronic that was being set up. It was certainly a clown, made to hand out balloons to children, much too close to BB in FNaF for Kerry's taste the annoying bastard. Kerry stared at it for a bit before tearing up her self and backing away. "My fucking god that is terror inducing," she whimpered a bit.

"Okay, why don't we get our food to go," Don suggested, pulling Kerry out of the hallways, the rest following right behind him.

"No more clowns," Alex begged. "Can we go?" Alex asked, looking up at Raph with pleading eyes. "No more clowns, please?"

"Yeah," Raph said gently easing her upright. "Yeah, let's go, Kerry is probably wanting to go too, we can eat at her place." He promised her as he stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she muttered, clinging to his arm as they walked, glancing back at the hallway where the clown seemed to be staring at her as she went. She moved in closer to Raph noticing that. Raph noticed and shifted them so he was inbetween the clown and her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he whispered to her.

"I-I didn't mean to embarrass you, honestly," she trembled, feeling like the clown was following her. "I just, I just, I didn't want you to win. And I just, uh, _clowns_!"

"Hey I said it's fine. Besides you were embarrassed too so we'll call it even" Raph said softly as he motioned to Leo to grab their food. "Need some air?"

"God yes," Alex moaned, pulling him outside as quickly as she could.

"Alright alright," Raph chuckled a bit.

Once outside, Alex leaned against the wall, trying to cool and calm down. "It's just, _clowns_? Why did it have to be _clowns_?" She rubbed her eyes for a moment before running her hands through her hair. "I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight!"

"Just spend the night with Kerry, I'm assuming she won't be either." Raph chuckled a bit.

"It's not funny," Alex pouted. "I wouldn't be laughing if it was a cockroach."

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you," Raph teased her. "And I'm serious, you two should group up if you're both going to to be sleepless tonight."

Alex nodded her head, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. "Y-Yeah," she mutter. "I'll do that."

"Good." Raph smiled as the rest of the group came out with bags of their food and headed in the direction of Kerry's flat.

_Uh, clowns._


	24. Pies

Chapter 24

Pies

"Oh, come on, Munchkin!" Elliot begged. "Just one piece!"

"No," Alex she said, using her wooden spoon to hit her brother's hand away from the apple pie sitting on the counter in front of him. "They're not for you, Dick."

"Why are you making pies I can't eat?" he asked, staring at the pie rather dejectedly.

Alex rolled her green eyes at her brother, pulling out the pumpkin pie from the oven. She set it on the top of the stove to let it cool down before wrapping it up. She turned to her brother, leaning against the counter as she pulled the apple pie away from him. Since the apple pie was cool, she wrapped it up and placed it into the box next to her on the counter.

"I'm making the guys some for Thanksgiving," she told her brother. "Master Splinter's not the best cook, or so the guys tell me. I figured they'd appreciate them."

"But then why aren't you making _us _pie?" he asked. "I mean, I'd appreciate the _whole _thing!"

Alex huffed. "I know you would," Alex said. "That's why I'm not making the pies for us until tomorrow. I can't have you eating them all before we actually have the dinner."

"But then why are you making theirs now?" Elliot complained. "I want pie! And they're going to eat it right when you give it to them. You know they will, Munchkin."

"When they eat the pies is their own business," Alex answered, moving to the refrigerator to pull out the chocolate pie out to wrap up. She did so and placed it into the box. By then the pumpkin pie was cool enough to wrap up and put in the box.

"But I want pie!" Ellie complained.

"You're going to get one right in the face if you don't stop complaining," Alex told him smoothly. She left him in the kitchen for a moment to grab her jacket from the coat rack by the door. As she grabbed it, Alex yelled out, "I swear, if I walk back in there and find your hand in that box or anything wrong with those pies, I'll break your fingers, Elliot Michael O'Neil!" She slipped it on and headed back into the kitchen. She found him sitting with his head laying down on the counter. She laughed and rolled her eyes at the young man. "Relax, you'll get pie tomorrow."

"But that's not now," he cried.

"Baby."

"Munchkin."

"Dick."

"Buttmunch."

* * *

_I didn't think this through, _Alex thought, standing at the door of the Hamatos with the box in hand. She wanted to put them in the kitchen and leave them there as a surprise for them all, but she seemed to run into a problem. Since her hands were full with the box of pies, and her umbrella was balancing on her shoulder and head, she couldn't open the stupid beautiful door. And she couldn't set the box down because the ground was all wet.

Alex hand to use her head to knock on the door.

Scuffling sounded from the other side of the door before Leo opened the door and popped his head out. He looked over before raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me, severed heads," he pretended to guess.

"How did you know?" Alex laughed, moving past him as he held the door open for her

He took the umbrella from her and closed it, shaking it off outside before bringing it inside. He reached out and took the box from her, despite her protests telling him she was perfectly capable of carrying it.

"Oh you know, I'm a pro at deduction," Leo shrugged. "And it makes sense with you."

"How do I manage to get myself connected to having severed heads?" Alex asked, taking her shoes off before following Leo to the kitchen.

"Hmm, not sure. It might be your ability to take our heads off when we piss you off," Leo chuckled a bit.

"Okay, I can see that," she laughed.

Leo put the box on the counter and Alex started to take the pies out. She put the pumpkin and apple pies into the refrigerator and kept the chocolate one hidden under the blanket in the box.

"Pies?" Leo asked tilting his head. "What are you bribing us for?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Please, I wouldn't have to bribe you guys if I wanted something," Alex said. "I'm a master manipulator!" Leo snorted of that. Alex just smiled and went on, "Nah, I thought you guys would like some homemade pies for Thanksgiving."

"Thanks," he said, leaning against the counter, crossing his arms. "That's nice of you."

"Well, who doesn't like pie?" Alex asked rhetorically. "And seeing how much Raph liked my baking, I figured all of you would like some."

"We really do appreciate it. Especially Mikey and Raph probably." Leo chuckled. "I actually love pumpkin pie too, that's why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday."

"Really? I didn't know that," Alex said, picking up the box from the counter. "Well, I hope you like it. I know I had to beat Elliot in order to keep the pies safe for you guys."

"Like I said we all appreciate it," Leo laughed. "I'm sure I'll love it, Alex."

"Well, I'm just going to pop in and say hi to Raph really quick before I head out," Alex said. "But let me know what you think of the pie."

Alex moved down the hallways quickly, peeking into the common room to see that nobody was in there before heading down the bedrooms. She stopped at Raph's door and knocking politely. She waited, shifting the box to rest under her arm and against her side as she waited.

"Mikey I swear-" Raph said as he yanked his door open. "O-Oh, hey."

Alex chuckled, a smirk on her lips. "Mike, huh?"

"Sorry, he's antsy this time of year," Raph apologized. "What's up?"

"I just, uh," she held up the box. "Thought you might like this." She handed him the box, biting her lip.

Raph removed the blanket and pulled out the pie. "Chocolate?" he smiled at her. "That's my favorite."

"Yeah, I know," Alex said. "I made pumpkin and apple for you and your family for tomorrow. I figured, you know, since I was at it, I'd make you a dark chocolate cream pie." She shrugged, biting her lip.

"T-That's awesome of you." Raph blinked, smiling slightly. "I love it, thanks," he said ruffling her hair.

"Hey," she groaned. Her hands were instantly at her hair, smoothing it back down. "I just made you a pie! You don't have to mess up my hair."

"It's affectionate!" Raph defended a bit.

"It's annoying, that's what it is," Alex laughed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

"Annoyingly affectionate," Raph cleared up for her. He walked past her, leading her back to the kitchen.

"Is that even a thing?" she asked. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"No," Raph said. "Mikey." He explained in one word. Annoyingly affection are described his younger brother perfectly.

"Okay, I see your point," Alex laughed, hopping up to sit on the countertop.

"So what is your lot doing for tomorrow?" Raph asked as he made his way past to hide the pie in the back of the fridge from Mikey.

"We're just having dinner," she told him. "April and Kerry are coming over too. Aunt Robyn's in California so she's not coming. Nothing big."

"What about Kerry's mom?" Raph asked eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"Out of the country," Alex told him with a frown. "New Zealand, I think."

"I-It's just so weird," Raph shook his head. "I mean, my family is almost _always_ together, no matter how much I try to pull away," he joked. "It's just so foreign to think of family not being together, you know?"

"I know," Alex agreed. "I mean, I may not hang out with my brothers as much as you do, but it was weird not having Elliot around. And that was just three months."

"Well, at least she has you." Raph nodded. "And I'm sure Don would be more than welcoming if she wanted to crash our party," he joked.

"I know, they've been getting closer recently, haven't they?" Alex thought. "It's nice to see her getting closer to someone other than me, you know? She worries me sometimes, and seeing her with Don, and even you guys, I don't know, eases my worries a little?"

"Yeah they have, I know they text all the time and talk to each other on the phone at least once a week, like when she's walking to her car after work." Raph rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe he really started doing that," he grumbled. "Anyway, I totally get it, she seems to be kind of a loner but even loners need friends to stay sane."

"Like you, tough guy," Alex teased, nudging her with her foot.

"Tch, I have friends and my brothers. 'Sides I got you and the hick right?" Raph teased her.

Alex smiled softly at the male redhead. "Yeah," she said. "You've got us. And I, for one, can assure you I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me, Raphie Boy."

"Cool," Raph smirked knuckle bumping her.

"So, uh, what are you guys doing tomorrow?" Alex asked him.

"Well, Dad is going to some work party from his old job in the morning while we go to the parade to kill time. Then we're having a basic dinner." He shrugged.

"I've lived in New York City all my life and I've never been to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."

"Really?" Raph blinked at her. "You can come with us if you want. You're not a true New Yorker unless you see it at least once."

Alex groaned with a slight chuckle. "I wish I could," she said. "Oh it's so tempting, but I promised my mom I'd help her make the meal. Plus, I've got, like, five more pies to make."

"Yikes," Raph pretended to wince. "No big deal, there's always next year, I guess. We'll make a thing of it." He smiled.

"Promise?" she asked hopefully. She bit her lip and looked up at him through her lashes.

"Course, it'll be fun." Raph nodded.

"Then it's a date," Alex said with a soft smile and a light blush on her cheeks.

"That it is." Raph smiled at her ruffling her hair again.

"_Dude_," she groaned, hitting him on the forehead as if telling him he should have had a V8. "Not cool, _Babe_." She ran her fingers through her hair, fixing it.

"You'll find I'm plenty cool, _Babe," _Raph shot back.

"Oh yeah?" she asked with a flirty smile. "How so, _Baby_? _Hm?_ How exactly are you cool?"

"Do you not see me, baby?" Raph smirked. "I mean look at me, not to mention my ride."

"Just because your ride is sexy doesn't make you cool," Alex told him.

"I believe it's basic science, ask Don." Raph joked.

"Correlation does not imply causation," Alex said. "Ask Don. It's science."

"Sure it does. I mean, you're connected to those sexy legs of yours so I'm sure that makes you relatively sexy because of it," he teased her. "Ask Don, it's science." he mocked.

"Oh, so you _and _Don only find me _relatively _sex? Is that so?" she asked pretending to sound offended. "I'm insulted, Raphael."

"Relatively, that means in relation." Raph rolled his eyes. "'Sides you're not Don's cup of tea if you know what I mean, he likes...other things in a woman," he chuckled.

Alex smirked. "And what exactly is it _you _look for in a woman? Besides," she crossed her legs slowly, "_legs_, of course."

"...A girl who won't let me get away with shit." Raph smirked a bit, though it was more honest. "I mean, I lose my temper sometimes so a girls got to be able to take it and shoot it back, but in a more graceful way than me, you know?"

Alex laughed. "Oh, so you like a girl that can be dominant? That's not exactly what I pictured. I saw you as being more controlling and, uh, _protective _than that."

"Who _can_ be dominate but doesn't mind me being in charge either. A more, I guess the word I'm looking for is interchangeable relationship." Raph rolled his eyes. "You make me sound like a guy who locks his wife in the house."

"No, that's not what I meant," Alex said. "More the kind that worries about his girl a little too much. Especially since you just said you wanted someone that can take charge and is strong."

"I mean. yeah I'd worry and always want to protect her, but _I_ wouldn't want to be watched 24/7," he grumbled. "I can be in charge and strong but still let her be strong and do her own thing. I mean, I hate being controlled so I will never be controlling. That make sense?"

"Perfectly," Alex said. "But, uh, maybe she'd like that, you know, every once in a while too. Like you said, it's nice not to be in charge every once in a while."

"And I would like that too." Raph chuckled. "I do like some control, you know, can't have her running around sleeping with other guys on me."

"Oh no, she'd never do that," Alex said, thinking about it as if it was her. "Not if she had you. I mean, she'd be stupid to mess that up."

"Some girls don't get that, like Amanda," he pointed out. "From what I hear that Arthur guy is pretty cool."

"Yeah, he's one of the sweetest, smartest guys I've ever met," Alex said. "He's just blind in love. He doesn't see what's really going on right in front of him. Or doesn't want to." She sighed, looking down at the floor. "It's going to break him when he finally does see it all. I can't imagine going through something like that. Breaking so deeply. I mean, the betrayal alone would be horrible, but the fact that it's been going on for years? And that he left all of his closest friends because of it? How does someone deal with that?"

"Well, it's his choice, that's how he'll come to terms with it. He'll look back and see you tried to tell him, and then he'll come to appreciate you guys." Raph smiled. "Arthur will come around, if he's as smart as you say and an amazing girl will come along and break the curse the bitch has on him."

Alex smiled at him. "I hope you're right about that," she said. "He deserves it. Don't we all?"

"I like to think we all do." Raph nodded. "I like to think we, no matter what we do, deserve second chances at happiness."

"Have," Alex started to ask. "Have you, uh, you know what? Nevermind."

"No come on, you must want to know if you started asking," Raph chuckled. "What's up?"

"Have," she gulped, her face red, "you ever been in love? A-And you don't have to tell me, I know it's incredibly personal."

"I've had crushes, like on this daughter of one of my dad's friends. Her name was Mona. But it never really went anywhere for it to be considered love." He shrugged. "So not I haven't. Leo has," Raph said thoughtfully.

"He has?" Alex asked, kind of relieved to hear that Raph had never had his heart broken.

"Yeah, a girl he met at competition named Karai. Though it might have been more of a fling. She's part of the Foot," he said shaking his head.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alex said, holding him up. "You mean the same Kurai that's Oroku Saki's daughter?"

"The very one," Raph sighed. "Though I admit she's not _as_ bad as other Foot students. She has some honor."

"The bitch has no honor!" Alex protested. "She broke my leg when I was fifteen!"

"Listen, I can't make sense of it, but Leo sees some good in her. Or at least he used to until she almost got him killed during a competition. He thought he could change her, make her better and see reason but, I think he sees now it's impossible. Doesn't ease the heartache, you know?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "I've never had my heart broken." She shrugged. "I'm the eternally single best friend, remember?

"Good, cause from what I heard from him the first year after that happened, it sucks." Raph sighed. "He's over it, don't worry." He said when he saw the look on her face. "And chill, you'll find a guy. There's no rush." He rolled his eyes.

_But what if I've already found him? _"Have you ever liked someone so much that it hurt? And the person not have feelings for you back?"

"I would know, I'm not the best with feelings." Raph said quickly, as if rehearsed. He was avoiding the question.

"Raph?" Alex asked, moving a strand of hair that fell into her eyes behind her ear.

"Nothin'," Raph waved her off.

Alex chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I was going to say something else," she told him. "I, uh, you'll find her, Raph." And Alex desperately hoped it was her, but if not, all she wanted was for Raph to be happy, even if it meant she wasn't part of that happiness. "You'll find your girl."

"Yeah, yeah I know. I just hope she'll feel the same way when it happens," Raph said nodding.

"She will," Alex said. "How could she not? I mean, and I'm not saying this to make your head any bigger than it already is, you're an _amazing _guy, Raph. _Any _girl, no matter who she is, would be the luckiest girl in the world if you even so much as had a crush on her. To _love _her? There wouldn't be anything else."

"Thanks Alex." Raph smiled at her. "I know what ever guy gets you will be the most looked after, _well feed_, and luckiest guy in the world too," he laughed.

"Thanks Raph," she said. "I needed to hear that."

"Good, come to us if you ever need a confidence boost, okay?" Raph chuckled.

Alex chuckled. "That's not the only thing you guys are good for, you know? I don't want you to think that's the only reason I hang with you."

"Really," Raph asked. "What else are we good for, huh?" he chuckled, showing he was just joking around. They knew that wasn't the reason.

"You guys make me laugh," she told him. "And I don't think I've ever met more genuine people than the five Hamatos. There aren't many people like you out there. I can't let that pass me by, can I?"

"Well we like you too," Raph teased her. "We might just let you keep coming around."

"I'll bring more pie if you let me," she joked, pretending to bribe them.

"Oh, well now we can't let you leave. Ever," Raph joked back.

Alex laughed. "Oh, I don't think Elliot would like that," she said. "He expects me to make him a pie tomorrow."

"Well we can't have him go pieless." He chuckled.

"Speaking of Elliot," Alex said, hopping off the counter, stretching her back out slightly. "I should probably get going. I told him I'd watch the Ranger's game with him."

"Right," Raph laughed and got up to show her out. "Thanks for dropping the pies off."

"My pleasure," Alex said, stepping outside, opening her umbrella. She turned around and leaned up, placing a gentle kiss to Raph's cheek, rather close to his lips. "Goodnight, Raph."

Raph returned the gesture. "Night, Firecracker."


	25. Unwatched Movie

Chapter 25

Unwatched Movie

Alex has grown used to just walking into the Hamato's place by the beginning of December. it was exactly what she had done that Friday afternoon. She found that it was so much easier not having an escort to their place. Not only did she get some well needed alone time, she also got there much quicker. It seemed that whenever one of the guys went to get her, their pace slowed due to the conversations shared.

That didn't mean she didn't enjoy their company or miss their conversations. If was just nice to finally be alone. She was constantly around her brothers and parents at home; at school there were her friends, tutoring had all of the guys, work had customers and students. The only times sh go to be alone, really, were when she was on her walk to tutoring, in the bathroom, for Pete's sake, and when she was asleep.

"Hey, gu-" Alex started to greet as she walked into the common room.

Her green eyes glanced around, unable to spot any of her friends that were generally always in there. The girl shook her head and placed her things over at the couch before heading out of the room and down the hallway towards where the bedrooms were. Knocking on each bedroom door, Alex was met with silence from each one.

Alex placed her hands on her hips, leaning most of her weight one one foot as she wondered just where everybody was. _It is Friday, right?_ she asked herself. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and glanced down at it, checking to see what day it was. _Nope, it's definitely Friday_. She put the phone back in her pocket and turned around, hoping but not expecting someone to walk around the corner to greet her. _Where the hell is everybody?_

Moving further into the house, Alex continued her search for at least one Hamato to tell her what was going on. She wasn't worried like some people would have been in her situation, due to the fact that the house didn't look at all out of order and for the fact that her gut wasn't telling hr anything was wrong.

Upon getting closer to the bathroom. Alex could hear the soft sound of the shower running. Alex stood outside the bathroom for a moment wondering if she should knock or just go back to the common room and wait for whoever it was in here to come ou. But what if they didn't go back into the common room? What if they went back to their room? Alex would have been waiting there for nothing!

While Alex was preoccupied contemplating what to do, whoever was in the shower turned it off. The young redhead was too lost in thought to hear it, hand still in mid-knock when the door suddenly opened.

Alex came face to chest. She blinked, eyes studying the wet, dripping chiselled chest before her. The chest was connected to familiar warm, strong arms. That arms connected down to hands that were holding a cream colored towel loosely, though still secured around their strong, toned abdomen and waist, leaving very little to the imagination.

"Alex?" Raph asked, his voice pulling the girl's eyes up to his face. "What are you doing here?"

Alex opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out as her eyes moved up to his normally spiked hair. His hair was flattened down, dripping droplets of water down his face. And Alex thought she _normally _wanted to run her hands through his hair! That feeling was increased ten fold. His cheeks were flushed. Alex assumed it from from the temperature of the water and the steam still slipping out from the bathroom.

The girl's mouth shut, face red and a gulp barely audible from her throat. She had seen Raphael covered in sweat, without a shirt before (and she had found it too appealing then) but never had she ever seen him in such a state as the one he was in now. There was very little there covering him, and as much as Alex tried not to, her eyes kept trailing down over his body, burning a fire through her body and making her completely and utterly flustered.

"I know you like what you see, but I did ask you a question, Firecracker," Raph said, removing one of his hands from the towel, allowing it to droop ever so slightly in order to lift her chin up to look at him, a firm smirk in place.

"T-T-Tutoring," she finally managed to stammer out, backing up a little in order to get away from Raph's exceptionally warm skin (due to the hot shower).

"Nobody told you?" he asked her, leaning up against the doorframe of the bathroom, making it increasingly more difficult for Alex to look away and to resist the overwhelming urge to jump him right then and there.

"T-Told me what?" she asked, eyes fixed on his adam's apple.

"Tutoring is cancelled for today," he told her. "Everybody's out Christmas shopping."

Alex cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her neck as she moved back even more. "I, uh, should probably go then."

Raph shrugged and the towel slipped even further down. _Is he _trying _to kill me? _Alex asked herself, face even more red. She was surprised she hadn't passed out yet from the lack of blood in her heart since all of it seemed to be heading towards her face.

"You don't have to go," Raph told her. "You could hang and watch that movie you were talking about last week."

_A movie. Alone. With Raph?_ Alex thought. _Isn't that basically a date? _She wouldn't want to go on a date with him. But then why did the offer sound so delicious? And did it have anything to do with his current state of dress?

"W-we don't have to," Alex assured him.

"Hey, it's no problem," Raph said. "I haven't seen it yet either. Just let me go change and I'll meet you on the couch." A playful, sly smirk danced across his lips as Alex's eyes once again trailed down. "Unless you have something else in mind?"

"No!" she replied all too quickly. Her face seemed to darken even more at that. That seemed to make him smirk and chuckle even more. _Oh, I'm glad he's finding this so amusing!_ "M-Movie's fine!" With that, Alex quickly turned away and rushed back to the common room.

* * *

Alex was sitting on the couch, finally back to normal when Raph walked in in a simple pair of basketball shorts and a tee-shirt. "I already put the movie in," she called over to him as he jumped over the back of the couch and plopped down next to her.

"Cool," he said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Alex answered, her eyes getting pulled up to his hair. She narrowed her eyes, realizing that he hadn't put anything in it. It was just normal. No spikes.

"What?" he asked her. "You still going with the whole staring thing?"

Alex rolled her eyes, face only slightly red. "You didn't do anything with your hair," she stated.

Raph scoffed, laying down his head on her lap. "Sorry, didn't know I had to get all dressed up to hang out with my fake girlfriend."

"I didn't know I had to let you lay on my lap if Amanda wasn't around," she teased back. She didn't make him move though. She kind of prevented him from doing so as she ran her fingers through his still slightly damp hair.

"It's part of the requirements," Raph said shrugging.

Alex scoffed, gently tugging his hair in order to get him back for that comment, completely forgetting that he had a thing for that. He groaned slightly, eyes going closed for a second before he bit his lip, controlling himself. After doing so, she continued to run her fingers through his hair. "I like it," she told him. "You're hair like this."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it," he muttered, but Alex smirked catching the sight of his cheeks changing a little more pink at the compliment.

"Why not?" she asked innocently as the previews of the movie played on mute. "It looks good."

"It looks like Leo's," Raph grumbled a bit. It was true, without the spikes, his hair did resemble a bit of his brother's flat fringe.

"So? Other than that you two don't look anything alike," Alex said.

"I don't want to be anything like him," Raph grumbled. "Not even look wise."

Alex rolled her eyes. She understood not wanting to be compared to her siblings, but she didn't really understand Raph and Leo's situation. She saw both good and bad things in them, but overall, they were both incredibly good guys. Alex didn't really understand why they just couldn't get along.

"You two are too alike," Alex said. "That's why you don't want to be like him."

"How do you mean? We're complete opposites, everyone says so," Raph grumbled. "He's the goody two shoes and I'm-"

"You're always there to help people that are in trouble. You're both great brothers, always there for one another. You both are strong, confident and _stubborn_," Alex started to list.

"You make all that sound good. It only gets me into trouble," Raph grumbled, focusing his eyes away from her and onto the TV.

Alex sighed softly, her hand dropping slightly from out of his hair. Was what he was doing for her really that much trouble? She never meant for him to be put out because of it. Alex's gaze was focused across the room, rather than on the movie. She didn't know what to do? Should she tell him she didn't want to do this anymore so that he didn't have to go out of his way? But wasn't she enjoying making Amanda eat her words? Wasn't she having fun hanging around Raph? Was she being selfish for wanting to continue doing it just so she could spend more time with him? To get those unbelievable kisses?

"Don't make that stupid sad face, okay?" Raph grumbled. "I'm not mad."

Alex's mouth opened slightly at that. "Why do you keep going along with this?" she asked him. "The whole fake boyfriend thing. I mean, there has to be so many other things you'd rather be doing with your time, right? Like going out to get an _actual _girlfriend."

"I don't know many girls. I like spending time with you, I like going along with this, okay?" Raph glared up at her, as if mad she was making him muster up the strength to say a long sentence. "Stop overthinking things, you're like Don."

_He likes spending time with me? He wants to do this? _Alex bit her lip before bending down slightly and kissing his forehead, hand back in his hair. "Thanks, Raph."

Raph breathed through his nose, his fingers briefly going through his hair. "Yeah," he murmured, looking back to the TV.

"Hey, why didn't you go shopping with the guys?" Alex asked curiously, relaxing slightly, hand fiddling with his hair.

"I prefer going on my own. I actually make some of my presents anyway, kind of like Don with my bike," he murmured.

"I didn't peg you for the sentimental type," she said.

"I'm not, it's just that I know my brothers better than any stupid store," Raph murmured. "Saves me whining later about what they got."

"Did you get me anything?" Alex joked, though she and Kerry had already gone out and done their Christmas shopping, which included the guys presents.

"Yes, I even got one for the hick," Raph grumbled. "Don seemed to insist she be invited to spend Christmas with us. Even when I told him she had her own family to spend it with probably, that and you most likely." Raph looked at her. "You thought I wouldn't get you anything?"

Alex shrugged. "I wasn't being serious," she muttered, blushing from the fact that he had gotten her something. "I just, I don't know. Didn't really think about you getting me anything."

"Well you got a serious answer," Raph murmured. "Well knowing you, you'd get me and my bros something. So I got you something too."

"Yup, I hope you like it. It was really hard picking something out for you," Alex said. "I think getting your present took the longest."

"Sorry, I'm so complicated," he joked.

Alex looked back up to the movie, realizing that she hadn't been watching any of it. "That you are," she muttered. "That you are."

"Thanks," he snorted.

"Complicated isn't always a bad thing," she assured him. "Are you sure you won't wear your hair like this more often?" she pressed. "I like playing with it. It's harder to do when you have gel in it."

"No, my spikes are part of the package, Babe," he said blandly.

"Don't call me Babe," Alex ordered.

"_Babe_."

Alex rolled her eyes, tugging on his hair a little too hard to make him groan, though she thought it was from pain, not pleasure. "_Please_?" she begged, playing the whole puppy dog pout card.

Raph scowled and tugged a strand of her red hair right back. "_Babe_."

"I'll let you call me babe if you wear your hair like that sometimes," she offered. "You can't tell me it doesn't feel good."

"Hmm, you might have a deal," Raph murmured.

"Having people play with your hair is one of the best things in the world," Alex muttered. "It's almost better than orgasms."

Raph seemed to blush darkly. "W-What the hell!?" He growled sitting up.

Alex blushed, biting her lip. She looked away and shrugged. "Hey, I'm allowed to my opinion!"

"That doesn't mean you say something like that in front of me, dumbass!" Raph grumbled.

"Oh, so I just have to sit here and listen to you guys make comments like that?" Alex asked.

"When have I ever said something like that?!"

"You and the guys make comments like that all the time!" Alex said. " You guys always say things like 'Oh, I'd tap that. Hey, she's got a nice rack!' I'm not allowed to have an opinion like that?"

"Bu-but we're teenage guys!" Raph grumbled. "And we don't say stuff like that when we think you can hear!"

"So? I'm a teenage girl! Doesn't mean my sex drive is any less than yours!"

"S-Stop talking about sex!" Raph said scooting away from her, his face red.

"Why?" Alex pressed. "Can't handle it?"

"I-I can handle it just fine! Just stop, we're watching a movie!"

"_Puh-lease_, neither of us has paid more than _two minutes_ of attention to the stupid movie!"

"Becuase you are sitting here talking about orgasuming!"

"Hey, it's a perfectly natural thing," Alex muttered, blushing ten different shades of red. "Guys aren't the only ones that masterbate."

"Doesn't mean you need to talk to me about it! It's distracting!"

"Distracting?" Alex asked. "How is that distracting?"

"I-I'm a guy, okay!" Raph said looking away.

"What does that have anything to do with it?" Alex asked.

"Just please, Alex?" he grumbled.

Alex bit her lip. _He used my real name,_ she thought. _He really must be uncomfortable with it. _"Uh, yeah. Okay. Sorry, Raph. I didn't mean to bother you."

"It's fine," Raph murmured softly. "Thanks," he said and eased a bit back into the couch. "At least I know how to shut you up now."

Alex glanced down, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Just play with you hair," he said and smirked dangerously as his hands went up and started combing through her hair.

Alex shivered, biting her lip. She flicked his nose for that. "Shut up," she murmured.

"Ahaha not such a big talker now, are you?" Raph joked.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Either shut up and watch the movie while I play with _your _hair or get up and let _me _lay on your lap while you do that."

Raph rolled his eyes and removed his hand. "Yeah, I'm too comfortable for that," he said, though there was a red tint to his cheeks.

Alex huffed playfully. "Well, I see who gets the most out of this relationship."

"Cause I deserve it," he chuckled as he laid back down.

"And what did you do to deserve it, _Babe_?" she said teasing him with his own nickname against him.

"Kiss you amazingly, Babe," he shot right back.

Alex scoffed with a slight blush. "How do you know it isn't _me _that's kissing _you _ amazingly?"

"Cause I know I'm just that good." He smirked.

"_Please_, you're not nearly as good as you think you are," she lied. Oh, those kisses were just _that _good. She just wasn't going to tell him that. "Hey, wait a minute! Are you saying I'm not a good kisser?"

"Hmm, I think you need a reminder on just how amazing a kisser I am." Raph smirked Sitting up and getting closer to her face, nose brushing against hers.

Alex, despite how much she really wanted to kiss him, turned her head just as his lips were about to meet her, causing him to kiss her cheek. She wasn't going to let him win this! "You wish," Alex said.

Raph paused for a minute, and if she didn't know any better, she thought she might have saw disappointment. "No, _you _wish," he countered just fine.

"_You_ were the one going to kiss _me_," Alex pointed out.

"And you wanted it," Raph murmured.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

Raph smirked at her and decided to replay the movie and actually watch it.


	26. TMI

Chapter 26

TMI

Kerry, Alex and Elliot were sitting on Alex's couch watching the Ranger's play against the Red Wings. Alex and Elliot both shared the habit of screaming at the television when something went wrong for their beloved Rangers, or cheering when something went incredibly right, like a goal.

"So, is it even frowned upon when people get shoved into the glass?" Kerry asked as she sketched in her book. Kerry, on the other hand, wasn't a hockey fan so she opted to sit there doodling in one of her sketch books. She'd give them weird looks every time they yelled, as if they had interrupted her concentration.

"Hey, Elliot?" Alex asked, glancing at the time.

"What's up, Munchmallow?" he asked without removing his eyes from the television.

"Don't you have to work tonight?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, but not until eleven," he told her. "Why?"

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "What is it you do there anyways? What does TCRI do?"

"Uh, a lot of things," he said. "Don't really pay attention to it. I'm just a guard."

"Yeah, but since you're a guard, you see things, right?" Alex asked. "I mean, you get to snoop. You can't tell me you're not curious."

"Why do you work so late?" Kerry asked raising an eyebrow. "That's majorly sketchy, Dick."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "I don't always work that late," he said. "My shifts change regularly."

"...you a hooker?" Kerry looked at him. "Cause I'll pay." she joked.

"You wish," he told her. "And even if I was, you couldn't afford me, Dubois."

"I can afford a $20 hooker." Kerry scoffed.

"That can't even get you a lap dance," he told her.

"_Ew_," Alex groaned.

"I know, right? I give way better lap dances!" Kerry said with determination.

"So not what the ew was for," Alex muttered, slouching with a disgusted look on her face.

"Can't handle the fact that your brother's sex on a stick, Buttmunch?" Elliot teased.

"_Ew, ew, ew, ew,_" she repeated.

"I'd tap it, but not in it for the long term," Kerry nodded.

"_Eewwww_!"

"Sorry, Dubois, I don't give it away that easily," Elliot said.

"That's fine, I'd rather handle it my self." Kerry shrugged.

"I thought you weren't into toys," Alex thought.

"I'm not, but I can just call Don." Kerry joked though it was all talk.

"And you know he's all too willing to explore unfamiliar regions," Alex laughed.

"Okay Dorkfish, don't make it awkward." Kerry scoffed. "_We_ were having a wonderful conversation about fucking your brother."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!"  
"Come on, Alex! It's perfectly natural. I mean, you're bound to-" Elliot stopped mid sentence. "Nevermind. You are never, ever going to sleep with a guy. You are forever going to remain a virgin, you hear me? Or I'll kill you, bring you back to life and then make you watch me kill whoever the fucktard that violated you."

"I told you he was more protective than Raph," Alex said.

"Question," Kerry said pretending the raise her hand. "If she's never to have sex and remain a virgin, how does that save her from tribal virgin sacrifices?" she asked like this was an important question.

"Easy, I'll protect her," he said. "She'ds going to live with me and my wife and children."

"Do I get any say in this?"

"Say that when the sun god kills you or your wife does." Kerry scoffed.

"Again, any say?"

"My wife would love it," he said. "Free babysitter."

"Yeah, but it's also competition for your time and attention. Also as her position as the Matriarch of your family unit." Kerry said pretending to push up glasses.

"I am not living with Elliot the rest of my life," Alex said.

"Where the hell do you come up with this stuff?" Elliot asked. "I love it. I mean, is it from a book? Can I borrow it?"

"I can barely stand living with this now," Alex muttered. "How am I going to deal with it for the rest of my life?"

"Nope, it is all from my brain's." Kerry said patting her forehead.

"Can I have it? Please? I'll give you a free lap dance!" he offered.

"Again with the _ew_!"

"But I like my brain!" Kerry grumbled. "And it is worth way more than one measly lap dance!"

"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll give you your first child. It'll be worth your _wiiiiild_!" he sang.

"I'm going to need therapy."

"Hmmm can I also have your first born child?" Kerry asked.

"No way! Not my baby!"

"Come on, you can have visitation rights to both of them!"

"Wait, wouldn't my first born child be the one I have with you? You'd already have it," Elliot thought.

"He's got a point," Alex said.

"Hmmm, I guess your right. So how about you can _rent_ my brain for whenever you want for a lap dance and my first born child?" She offered.

"Deal!"

Kerry leaned over Alex and lifted Elliot's hand so that she could give him a hand hug. "I am now pregnant!" she said dramatically.

"I don't think that's how it works, Kerry," Alex laughed.

"Tch, it is when the child is conceived via brain waves! Duh stupid." Kerry scoffed.

"Aw, but fucking is so much fun!" Elliot groaned.

"Again, _ew_!"

"Oh we can still do that." Kerry shrugged. "We can fuck anytime we want without the deal baby." she winked jokingly.

"Are you sure you could handle all of me?" he asked flirtatiously.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Oh baby, I think it's me you can't handle." Kerry rolled her eyes.

"Am I considered a virgin if sex toys were involved?" Alex thought, having started to ignore her brother and best friend's conversation.

Elliot froze, face turning bright red as he turned to look at the girl. "What?" he squeaked.

"Am I still considered a virgin if I've used sex toys?" she asked, a smirk in place knowing that this was her payback.

"Well I would think emotionally and technically you are but physically no." Kerry shrugged. "It's ambiguous."

"That's true," Alex agreed. "But I never really had a cherry. Not since I was, like eight. Gymnastics and martial arts, you know. Right Kerry?"

"Yeah I know that part but the stretching." Kerry said her finger in the air intellectually. "In that way is what I meant. The cherry actually erodes over time, it can break from freaking walking."

"S-S-Sex toys?" Elliot muttered. "B-B-Baby sister?".

"Yeah thats all her. I don't use those things...I don't even-" Kerry said but clamped her lips shut. "I have become way too comfortable with you two."

"Did I break him?" Alex asked

"Yes, Yes you did." Kerry nodded.

"No, tell me!" Alex begged her. "You can't leave me hanging like that! I tell you everything! Every dirty detail you've ever asked about it!"

"It's my vagina, so it's my business!" Kerry argued. "And technically I don't ask, you just kinda tell me."

"No, no, you've asked me what an oragms feels like before," Alex pointed out, referring to one of their sleepovers.

"O-O-O-Org," Elliot stammered.

"That was for intellectual purposes though." Kerry said. "It was for my own benefit and sexual maturation. So that doesn't count. Especially since that's not personal. An orgasum is experienced by multiple females."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Elliot muttered, leaning forward to hit his head between his knees.

"Aw baby, I thought you could handle me," Kerry said pursing her lips jokingly.

"Munchkin, you're not supposed to grow up!" Elliot exclaimed. "Oh God, what do I do? What do I do? My baby sister's curious. What do I do?"

"I'm not curious, I'm horny," Alex said. "There's a major difference there, Ellie."

"I don't know Dorkfish, you sure like grinding up on me at the club," Kerry joked.

"Sorry, Fruitcake, my boat don't float that way," Alex said. "And it's not like you don't grid against me."

"Clubs? What happened to Chuck E Cheeses?" Elliot cried, pulling at his hair.

"Fucking animatronics!" Kerry screeched and fell off the side of the couch.

"Don't worry, that one was just a guy in a costume," Alex told her. "Not robots or possession involved."

"I don't know about the Chuck E Cheeses you've been too but they always have animatronics at the ones I was forced too...this is a hatred stemmed from my childhood," she said lowly.

"Think happy thoughts," Alex instructed. "Like when you danced with Don at Franco's!"

"...God he is gorgeous. Have you seen his hair? I think his hair is better than mine." Kerry mumbled settling back down on the couch.

"I think Raph spends more time on his hair than I do," Alex thought. "But it is nice hair," she added as an after thought.

"Oh great! They're back on boys!" Elliot cried.

"And have you seen Donatello's broad chest? He's so so...strong looking! Gah!"Kerry gushed with her.

"Yeah, but Raph's the strongest out of all of them," Alex said. "And, _oh God_, it shows."

"Oh God," Elliot groaned. "It's like my worst nightmare. Instead of it being my daughter that's into guys like me, it's my baby sister! What do I do? Oh shit! What do I do?"

"Embrace it, my love!" Kerry said. "Just embrace it!"

"Embrace it, right. That's what I'll do! I'll strangle him!"

"No!" Alex yelled. "That's _not _what you'll do!"

"No!" Kerry said filling across the couch to lay across both of his legs. "Not my OTP."

"No! They can't be your OTP!" Elliot said. "How can they be your OTP?"

"Because they are so perfect!" Kerry said pouting, head in his lap.

"How are they perfect?" he demanded.

"Yeah, how are we perfect?" Alex asked curiously.

"They're perfect because they balance each other!" Kerry said seriously. "Alex calms him down and he energizes her! They almost complete each other! It's too complicated for your stupid brains! My brain is superior!"

"Why are you making this so hard for me?" Elliot asked. "I mean, I _have _to beat this guy. It's my duty as Alex's older brother. I have to. Don't make me feel bad by saying things like that, Dubois!"

"But you want our sweet Alex happy don't ya, Darlin'?" Kerry asked him. "He makes her happy so you should be happy. Plus she could do worse. She could be in love with a Foot student, or worse!"

"Or worse being like Richard," Elliot growled. "I hate that guy."

"I thought you liked Freddy," Alex thought.

"No, only because he was your best friend," he said. "I put up with him. Plus, you didn't like him so it was kind of funny seeing him all lovey without you lovin' back!"

"I totally agree." Kerry said. "He's kind of a dick."

"He wasn't always like that," Alex said, feeling as if she needed to defend the guy who had basically abandoned her the last couple of weeks.

"But he's like that now," Kerry pointed out.

"I feel like its my fault," Alex said. "I mean, what if Raph and I didn't start fating? Would he still be around or not?"

"You can't ask yourself those kinds of questions, Munchkin," Ellie said. "You'll drive yourself crazy."

"It's his choice, you know?" Kerry said patting her head. "You can't control him,"

"True," Alex sighed. "And at least I've got you guys and the boys."

"I am worth 50 of that loser," Kerry said motioning to her brother.

"So you're fifty losers?" Elliot asked. "Well, congrats, you win loser of the year!"

"One more award than you have," Kerry scoffed.

"Nope," he said. "I get overprotective brother of the year, most annoying brother, best son, and sexiest man alive."

"Sorry but that last one is taken." Kerry shook her head. "RDJ remember?"

"No, I said he was just awesomely awesome, and Chris Evan's was sexy as fuck," Ellie said. "I never said either was the sexiest man alive. That's me!"

"But he is!" Kerry rolled her eyes.

"Wow, Don's going to feel so hurt when he finds out about that," Alex laughed.

"Don is the _universes _sexiest man alive," Kerry said. "God, do you know nothing?"

"But have you seen _Raph_?"

"Have you not seen me?" Elliot asked. "Wait," he looked at Alex, "you don't answer that." He turned to Kerry and asked, "Have you not seen me?"

"'Fraid not, Darlin' but I have seen Donatello in a combat uniform." Kerry said biting her lip.

"And Raph," Alex sighed.

"Okay, I can't take it anymore!" Elliot exclaimed, getting up off the couch. "I'm going to work! That's so much better than listening to the two of you talk about boys. Uh, gross."

"Okay, be safe!" Alex called out to him as he made his way out of the apartment.

* * *

Alex was sitting on the couch watching a movie when she heard a knock on the door. She got up off the couch and headed to the door, peeking out through the peephole before settping back, knitting her eyebrows together. She opened the door and looked at the silver haired man there.

"Hello, Alexandra," the man greeted.

"Sir," Alex greeted, bowing slightly to him, not taking her eyes off of him. What was Elliot's boss doing there?

"Is Elliot in? I was wondering if he would like a ride into work," he said with a kind smiled.

"Oh, he already left," Alex informed him. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all," he said. "I've been meaning to speak with you, as it turns out. This is a good time as any. May we speak, Alexandra?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," she told hum. She moved to the side and let the man enter. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," he said.

Alex led him over to the living room and motioned for him to sit down as she turned the television off. "So, you wished to speak with me?" she asked the man hesitantly. She really wished she hadn't invited him in. She was the only one home, after all.

"Yes, my name is Mortu," he introduced. "How much has your brother told you about what he does for us?"

Alex shook her head. "Nothing really," she answered. "Just that he's a guard."

"I suspected as much," he muttered. "We hold you brother to the highest regards, I wish to tell you. He does a great deal in protecting not only our facility, but as well as the individuals, such as myself, that work there. It's a rather dangerous job, I will admit."

_Dangerous? What's Ellie gotten himself into? _

"And I believe he would not like what I am about to tell you, but I believe it is not his decision to make. It is yours."

_What does any of this have to do with me?_ "I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm afraid I don't' follow you."

"I have seen how you fight," he told her. "I haven't seen anybody as strong as you and your brother in quite some time. I wish to offer you a position with us at TCRI."

"Y-You want to offer _me _a job?" Alex asked, her surprise clear in her voice and on her face. "You do know I'm not even out of high school yet, right?"

"Of course," he said, nodding his head. "We would train you while you're still attending school. By the time you get out you would be taking up your position."

"What exactly would I be doing?" she asked.

"Exactly the same as your brother," he told her. "The Guardians, as we like to call them, are an essential part of what we do. You see, and I must stress how important it is that this does not leave the two of us, can I trust you with this, Alexandra?"

"Of course," Alex answered instantly, too good naturedly for her own good.

"You see, TCRI does many things. We invent things, do research, manufacturing, as well as work on green alternative resources on large scales. However we specialize primarily in justice."

"Justice?" she asked. _Well, that's not what I expected. _

"In our line of work we have come to make, if you will, enemies of sorts. We have exposed many unjust individuals and their activities through the years that TCRI has been dominant. And there is one man, a very powerful man, they has come to find that we will not stand for his actions. Oroku Saki has taken very drastic measures against us and has made it his mission in life to see to it that we fall."

"Oroku Saki?' Alex asked. "Head of Foot Industries and the Foot Institutes of Martial ARts?"

"Yes, as well as the sole provider for the gang known as the Purple Dragons," he added.

"I knew he had no honor in his institue, but I had no idea he was a criminal," Alex admitted. "And the _Purple Dragons?_" _No wonder Hun said his Master would be happy when he got me, _she thought. _If he knew that Elliot was working as a Guardian, it would get to him out and in the ope, and leave the people at TCRI unprotected. _

"What your brother does is not just guard us, but he also does reconnaissance missions, bringing us information to help expose such activities. This, as you most likely suspect, is a rather dangerous jobs."

"And you want _me_?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "I wouldn't be here if we didn't believe you weren't a perfect fit for the Guardians."

_Wow, _she thought. _They want me? They think I'm good enough?_ They were putting her right up there with Elliot, which was an incredible honor to begin with. How could shepissible turn that down? Then again, was she really ready for something so big? Elliot was better than her, after all. Then again, they did said she'd train with them for almost two years before actually working for them. She'd be better by then, right?

"I don't expect an answer now," he told her, riding from his seat. "Please, think about it." He pulled out a card from his breast pocket and handed it to the girl. "Please, no matter your answer, call me and inform me of your decision. And may we keep this conversation just between the two of us?"

"Uh, sure," she told him. "That's probably for the best." She got up and lead Mortu to the door. "I'll think about it and get back to you as soon as possible."

"Thank you," he told the girl. "And we would be lucky to have you. Good evening, Alexandra."

"Good evening, sir," she said, closing the door.

Alex turned around, leaning up against the door, looking down at the slick white card in her pale fingers. She had the opportunity to do something big, to make a difference. But was she really ready for something so life changing? She was only seventeen. Then again, tomorrow was never guaranteed. So, shouldn't she take up the offer as soon as possible? But could she really make an informed decision on her own?

"Uh," the girl groaned, making her way back to the living room. She plopped down face first onto the couch and sighed. "Too many decisions, too late at night." She sighed one more time before getting up and going to bed. She needed to sleep on it. That's what she needed.


	27. Steak

Chapter 27

Steak

Alex didn't normally get bored. She normally managed to preoccupy herself quite well. She would read a book, watch a movie, meditate, practice her martial arts, do homework or other various activities. Generally, she was contend with them. However, every once in a while she would get into a funk where she found absolutely no interest in doing any of those.

Which was what just so happened to be happening that evening. Kerry was working. Elliot was away for work for the week. Alex's parents were on a couple's retreat in the Adirondacks. Nathan was on a college tour, having been interest in going to Cornell. Zack was out on a date and Marcus was out at a party. Mikey and Don were out at a Star Trek movie marathon. Leo was on a twenty-four hour isolated meditation training thing (which Alex totally didn't understand whatsoever).

Which just left Raphael.

But how as she supposed to ask him to come over without making it sound like he was the last option she had at curing her boredom or making it sound too eager or desperate or like a date? Because it wasn't a date! It wasn't a date, right?

In the end, Alex just decided to wing it. What could go wrong? The worse that could happen was him saying no, right? She had already embarrassed herself in front of him enough, there wasn't much else she could do to destroy their relationship, right?

Alex dialed, laying down on the couch facing up to the ceiling, her feet dangling off the arm rest. Her head was propped p on a thick pillow she had gotten out of the closet in the hallway. One of her arms was resting behind her head while the other held the phone. The phone rang several times, making the girl worry that she wasn't going to get an answer before he finally picked up.

"_What's up, Firecracker?" _he asked her.

Alex smiled, relieved to have gotten an answer. "Nothing, Raphie Boy," she answered. "I've just got a question for you."

"_No, I will not bail you out," _Raph joked with her.

Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes. That wasn't exactly the response she had been expecting, but she wasn't surprised at hearing him joke. It _was _Raph, after all. "That's not what I was going to ask, but glad to know I won't be calling you if I ever do need to be bailed out of jail. Thanks for all the help, _Babe_."

"_Oh you know, I try."_ he said. "_So if it's not bail, what do you need, Babe?"_

"Don't call me Babe," she told him instantly, out of reflex. "What are you doing tonight?"

"_You called me babe first!"_ He complained. "_Nothing, might catch the Rangers game on TV. Why?"_

The girl rolled her green eyes again, but dropped the whole Babe part of their conversation. It wasn't all that important anyways. "You wanna watch it over here?" she asked. "I'll provide food."

"_What kind of food?" _he asked slowly.

"I was thinking steak," Alex though, running a hand through her hair. "I'm in the mood for a good steak. What do you think? And desert, of course. You know me and my sweets."

"_Be there in ten,"_ he said in a rush once he heard what was going to be waiting for him.

Alex rolled her eyes and hung up the phone. She sat up, reaching for the remote to turn the TV onto the right channel for the hockey game later, but leaving it on mute for the time being. She got up from her place on the couch and headed into the kitchen to start get everything ready.

Alex put the boiler on high before turning to start with the rest of the meal. She grabbed a pan and a pot out of the cabinet, putting it over a burner on medium. She filled the pot with water and put it on another burner before grabbing several potatoes and quickly peeling them. She tossed them in once the water boiled and turned to focus on her other steps.

She focused on preparing the asparagus first, knowing it would be quick. She seasoned them with salt and pepper before throwing them in the oven quickly. While those were cooking she grabbed a couple other ingredient and set them on the counter. Her pale hand grabbed the olive oil, pouring some into the pan. She then grabbed the already cut garlic and tossed it in, followed by the cumin, salt and black pepper. Once the garlic was golden brown, Alex added the chipotle and honey. After a minute, she removed it off the heat and added the lime juice and zest.

She prepped the stake and put it on a foil covered pan. She removed the asparagus and replaced it with the stakes. She put the asparagus on the stove, needing to melt butter on them next.

While the butter was melting on the asparagus, Alex moved to the potatoes. They were finished, meaning she needed to mash them. She threw in a little bit of butter and milk before grabbing the beater to make sure the potatoes were creamy and smooth. Once they were done, she put them in a bowl, covered with foil on the islan. She opened the oven and flipped the steaks before she turned to the now finished asparagus, doing the same with them as she had with the mashed potatoes. She then turned, taking out the steaks to let them rest for about five to ten minutes.

Next was getting another two pot of water and putting it on the stove in order to melt some chocolate (one for dark and one for milk) in a bowl over the top. She felt like doing chocolate covered fruit for dessert. They had just gotten fresh strawberries, cherries and bananas, so she figured she'd use those. Once the chocolate was melted, Alex dipped everything into it, before setting them on a sheet tray with wax paper over it. She put them in the fridge.

There was a knock at the door, indicating that Raph had arrived. Alex left the kitchen and opened the door without looking out to see if it was really him or not. She smiled out at Raph, who was holding his helmet and a plastic bag.

"Hey," she said, moving to the side to let him in. "What'd you get?" she asked, taking an interest in the bag as she lead him to the kitchen.  
"I just picked us up some drinks, I need to contribute somehow around here," Raph joked.

"Finally deciding to pull your weight in this relationship?" Alex joked back, grabbing plates, silverware and cups.

"Well, I have to put some effort in or you might leave me for someone like Mikey or _Leo_," he teased setting the bag down and helping her put the food on the plates so they could move to the living room to eat and watch the game.

Alex grabbed a of chai tea from the cabinet before making her way to the living room with Raph. She plopped down on the couch, one foot tucked under her. "What's wrong with dating Mikey and Leo?" she asked curiously, cutting into her steak.

"Perverted and stupid, then Stuck up and stupid," Raph listed as he popped the tab on his drink.

"Okay, first of all," Alex said. "Neither one of them is stupid. Secondly, Leo isn't stuck up. Confident and sometimes overly so, yes, but he's not stuck up. And thirdly, Mikey's not perverted. He's a flirt. There's a difference." She popped some steak into her mouth, and hummed softly at the taste. It was very easy to say Alex was a foodie.

"You don't live with them!' Raph chuckled. "This is good, by the way," he said as he took another huge bite.

"Chew," she instructed. "I know the heimlich, but that doesn't mean I want to perform it. I'd prefer you _not _to choke."

"I'll choke if I want too. I'd die happily on a full stomach," he joked.

"Well, thank you," she said, receiving the compliment. "It's always nice to know I could win a man over with my cooking. But I didn't know how you liked your steak, so I just make it medium like mine. Hope that's not a problem."

"Nah, it's good. I like it a little bloody," he shrugged. "You could have texted me." he chuckled.

"Yeah, but you were driving and I didn't want to cause an accident," she admitted. "But I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"I hope there's a next time," Raph chuckled. "This is so good," he complimented again.

"Sure, whenever you'd like," she told him. "But maybe not always steak. I could always do a roast or something."

"Be careful, I might show up every night if you keep feeding me. You know how strays are."

"I do recall telling you to stop by whenever you'd like," Alex reminded him from their last dinner together. "I'd be happy to cook for someone other than myself. Mom generally has dinner covered for the guys. When I get home everybody's asleep and they ate it all."

"It'd be kind of weird coming over when everyone is sleeping to eat dinner," he chuckled. "Maybe you should come over to my place to cook then."

"I'm not your personal chief," Alex teased. "You have to come here. But _maybe _sometime I could make an exception. If it's a special occasion."

"What constitutes a special occasion?" he asked.

"I don't know," Alex said, finishing off her steak to move onto her asparagus. "Maybe birthdays or something. But I guess you could make an argument for whatever."

"Weekends are special," he said slowly a sly smirk growing bigger on his face.

Alex reached out and gently hit his arm, shaking her head with a smirk. "A _better _argument than that, Raphie Boy." Raph had already finished his steak and potatoes and was in the middle of his asparagus. "Slow down, Hon, you have to leave room for dessert."

"Just cause I eat fast does not mean I'm getting full," Raph pointed out.

"Well, just slow down," she told him. "You're going to finish way before me."

"Well you go too slow!" Raph rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I like to actually _taste _my cooking, thank you very much," Alex laughed.

"I am tasting it, and it tastes so good I have to keep my mouth constantly filled with fresh bites," Raph said poking his fork at her.

She squealed slightly and giggled, moving away from his fork. "Hey, don't squer the girl that made you dinner!"

"Yeah, you made me dinner so I'm going to mark you." He smirked.

"I thought you were the one that wanted to be marked," Alex thought teasingly.

"Oh shut up," Raph said his cheeks a bit red as he looked away.

Alex stared at the red tint to his cheeks for a moment, wanting nothing more but to see that expression more, in a way that she caused. To know the she said something that got him just as flustered and bothered as many of his comments made her. And she wanted so desperately to see that look on his face after she kissed him, just as she knew her face got. She wanted to her was effect the same way she was.

"What, you don't want me to mark you anymore?" Alex asked, biting her lip. "Because if you still do, I can go grab the lipstick," she teased.

"No I am just fine right where I am!" he said looking away.

Alex rolled her eyes, slightly disappointed. She got up, her plate in hand and took Raph's empty plate from him. She walked away, her bare feet pattering against the hardwood floors. She put the plates into the dishwasher before heading to the refrigerator, pulling out the dessert as well as the whipped cream. She transferred them from the tray and onto a plate before bringing them back into the living room for consumption. She also brought along a little bowl to toss the tops of the strawberries and stems of cherry's into.

"Hope you like chocolate covered fruit," she said, sitting down next to him on the couch. "If not, too bad for you. I'll happily eat it all," she added taking a chocolate covered strawberry and taking a bite out of it.

"Chocolate is chocolate." Raph rolled his eyes and grabbed a chocolate covered banana.

"True, but chocolate covered strawberries are one of the best things in the world," Alex groaned out, taking another and biting into it. "_Mmm_."

"...don't do that." Raph grumbled as he took another one to eat.

"What?" she asked, glancing up from the plate, not having got what he said.

"Groan like that, it's awkward." Raph rolled his eyes.

Alex's face fell slightly. "Oh," she muttered, glancing back at the plate. "S-Sorry. I, uh, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I didn't realize I was doing it."

"Y-yeah just try not to, if I was a creep or something it might give me the wrong idea you know?"

"Uh, no, not really," Alex started, opening the new can of whipped cream. She put a little onto one of the strawberries before popping it into her mouth. She has some remaining chocolate on her fingers so she put the tip of her finger in her mouth and sucked it off, not wanting to waste good chocolate. She brought the whipped cream to her mouth and shot it in, giggling slightly. She turned to Raph and asked, "Want some?"

"No." Raph said taking the can. "No more whip cream."

"What?" she gaped. "Oh, come on! What the hell is wrong with whipped cream?"

"Your doing it on purpose, I know you are!" Raph said pointing it at her as if it were a gun.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked. "I just want fucking whip cream! Hey, don't point that thing at me! What's your problem?"

"You are sitting there licking it off your fingers and shit, teasing me." Raph glared.

"I'm not teasing you!" Alex told him, reaching for the can of whip cream. "I swear to God, Raph. I just want to eat!"

"I'll only give it back if you promise not to do it again, you understand young lady?" Raph said eyes still narrowed.

"Why the hell should I take orders from you? This my place!" Alex replied rather annoyed. "I'm not teasing you. I'm eating. I'll eat however I damn well please," she huffed, sitting back on the couch to look at the game, glaring as she pouted.

Raph watched her carefully before he placed the can into her lap and eased away, as if dealing with a dangerous animal on the loose. "Sorry, sorry, but my mental well being is a priority to me."

Alex took the can and slowly turned her head to him, eyebrow raised. "You're mental well being?" she asked, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.

"You sit there licking your fingers suggestively and then say you weren't. It's enough to drive any guy crazy," Raph grumbled.

"I never said I wasn't doing it," she muttered, looking away from him in embarrassment, running a hand through her hair in frustration. _So he thinking I'm teasing him? Doing it on purpose just to get a reaction with no meaning behind it? What kind of girl does he think I am? _"I said I wasn't trying to tease you. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. That's the last thing I'd want to do. I mean, I just, I, I'm sorry. Really. I mean, I wouldn't do it on purpose. Not without actually intending to go ahead with anything. You know? I'm not a tease. I'm not that kind of girl."

"It's okay." Raph muttered. "W-why don't we just focus on the game. eh? No harm no foul, right?" he smiled gently at her.

"Yeah," she muttered, glancing back up at him. "Uh, whip cream?" she asked holding out the can as a peace offering of sorts.

"...yeah," Raph said taking some and spraying it straight into his mouth. "Whip cream is the best." he nodded as he spoke around the cream. He held the can out to her.

Alex snorted, taking the can from him. "You, uh, got a little something…" she pointed out to his lip.

"So?" Raph chuckled licking it away, but missing a bit. "what's wrong with being a little messy?"

"Nothing, as long as you don't look stupid," she told him. "Here," she said, reaching you and wiping it away with her thumb. "There. No more stupid. Like magic," she joked, looking back at the TV as she wiped her thumb off on a napkin.

"_Pu-lease_," Raph rolled his eyes. "I look sexy no matter what."

Alex rolled her eyes but muttered under her breath, "Got that right." Her cheeks were slightly red her her quiet statement. "Bet I'm sexier," she joked.

"No, no I'm pretty sexy. Kinda hard to beat my level of sexy," Raph said, eyes not leaving the TV.

"Are you telling me I'm not sexy enough for your sexiness?" Alex asked with a laugh, pretending to be offended, though not doing it very convincingly.

"That is exactly what I am telling you," Raph answered.

"Ass," she insulted playfully, turning to lay down on her side, kicking him to emphasize her point.

"Why thank you, I know my ass is sexy," he said with a smirk, grabbing her foot as she tried to escape.

Alex rolled her eyes and tried to pull her foot back. "Let go, Raphie Boy, or I'll come up with more colorful names to call you," she giggled.

"You kicked me, I think holding your foot hostage is an even trade." Raph said blandly.

"Yeah, but you were the one that said I wasn't sex," she said, tried to pull back again, biting her lip to prevent herself from laughing. His fingers on her foot tickled. She couldn't' have him know she was ticklish. Who knew what he'd do with that information!

"I never said you weren't sexy, just not _as _sexy as me," Raph clarified, fingers tracing the top of her foot gently.

Alex groaned, trying not to laugh and tried to pull back again. "Don't do that!"

"Do what? Hold your foot?"

"Trace my foot," she informed him.

"Oh you mean this?" Raph asked and did it again.

Alex squirmed, unable to him back a small laugh through closed lips. She pulled back reflexively. "Yes, like that!"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what's bothering you." Raph aid and did it again but for longer. "Is it that?" he asked. "Or this?" he asked again, switching the position of which he was tickling her foot.

"Either!" she laughed. "Stop!"

"Hmm what about here?" he asked going up her leg.

"No, don't you dare!" she laughed and yelled, trying her best to move away from him on the couch.

"Dare what? I'm asking serious questions here."

"Don't touch me!" she laughed, as he moved his way up her leg to her stomach. "N-No! S-St-ahahaha-op!"

"Does it hurt? Cause you seem pretty happy right now," he said his hands moving up to her waist.

"No! Aha, Raph. Stop! Please! Ahahaha, I'm begging you! St-ahahaha!" she gasped through her laughter.

"You seem to not want me to stop, I mean, look at that smile on your face."

"Raph! Ahahah! I swear, ahahahaha. If you don't st-ahaha-op, I'll, I'll ahahaha!"

"You'll what? Giggle and hit my arm?" Raph chuckled a bit, shifting so that he was basically over her.

"Can't, ahaha, breathe," she gasped out. "Ple-please," she begged, coughing and laughing. "Ow, haha. Stop."

"Why?" Raph smirked leaning down closer, a smirk in place.

"Can't breathe," she gasped through the airy laughs. "Hurts. _Stooop_," she begged, grabbing onto his forearms to try and stop him.

"I don't think I can hear you," he smirked and leaned even closer to her, nose brushing hers.

Alex groaned from the cramps in her sides from laughing so hard. "I'll….do anything….ow…._Please_...Raph!"

"Anything?" Raph smirked.

"Anything...Stop...ow ha...please?" she begged.

"Hmm, I guess." Raph smirked and leaned down even closer.

Raph's fingers no longer danced on her sides, tickling her. Instead, they grasped onto her firmly, but gently enough not to hurt her now sore sides. His eyes went closed, and his lips were right above hers.

Alex blinked, her face red, but her hold on his arms tightened as she closed her eyes, moving in slightly. She could feel his lips gently brush hers, but there was no pressure, resulting in a non-kiss. She sighed and went to go in to actually kiss him.

"Honey, I'm _hooome_!" Marcus sang once the door was shut behind him. He sloppily shrugged off his shoulder and dropped it to the floor, stumbling into the living room, seeing the position the two were in. "Hello, lovebirds. Sorry!" he laughed. "Don't let little ol' _me _interrupt your fun! I mean, I know _I _had the same fun tonight."

_Ew_, Alex thought. _So didn't need to know that._ Alex looked from her brother to Raph, before her face grew extremely red. Had she and Raph been about to kiss? Like, really kiss? Without their reasoning behind it being to deceive Amanda? She gulped, pushing him off and got up off the couch. "You're drunk," she pointed out, pulling his arm around her shoulders so he wouldn't stumble as much or fall over.

"Yes I am!" he laughed. "That I am!"

"You know you're underage," she pointed out, scolding him as if she were their mother.

"So? It's not like you don't pop open one of mom and dad's bottles of wine when you have your," he said, sloppily pointing between his sister and Raph, "dates. It's the _perfect _stuff. An aphrodisiac, you know."

"Yeah, _you're _the one that does that, Marcus. Not me," she told him. "I've been drinking chai tea all night. Now, let's get you some coffee, okay?" She moved and placed him down in the chair. "Sober you up a little."

"Chai tea's also an aphrodisiac," he told her, as she started p walk away.

Alex froze for a moment before spinning around on her heel. "What?" she gaped.

"Yup!" he told her with a laugh. "Chai tea, chocolate, peas, honey, avocados, oysters, asparagus, chili peppers, bananas, watermelon, strawberries, pine nuts, cherries, coffee, olive oil, arugula, figs, artichokes, pomegranates, whipped cream, and even pumpkin seeds."

Alex clasped a hand over her mouth, looking over at the tray of chocolate covered fruit. _No, I didn't…_

"I uh, um well, uh" Raph said looking at the food as well.

"Oh God, Raph! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" she said, moving to sit back down, coffee for her brother forgotten. "I didn't mean…."

"N-No, it's fine. It was a good meal." Raph said and looked around awkwardly.

"Of course it was a good meal, it was jammed stuffed with aphrodisiacs!" she groaned, running her hands through her hair. _Well, I guess that explains some things tonight..._

"No, it was good cause I also got to hang out with you too." Raph assured her.

Alex glanced up, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, I think the same," she told him. "Uh, maybe we should end this for tonight. I've gotta take care of shitfaced drunk over there."

"Hey, I am not shitfaced, _shitface_," Marcus slurred.

"Yeah, yeah." Raph nodded, ignoring her brother. "Night Alex," he said pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I'll walk you out," she told him, following him to the door. "Thanks for coming tonight, Raph. I really did have a good time."

"No problem, I had a good time too." he said as he put on his jacket.

Alex opened the door for him and he stepped out, tuning to her. "We should do this again," she suggested.

"We should." He smirked. "See ya, Firecracker."

Raph turned and started to walk away. Alex was leaning against the door frame, biting her lip as she watched him start to go. _Oh, I can't believe I'm doing this_, she thought as she pushed off and said, "Raph?"

He turned around and before he could say anything, Alex pulled his face down to her's and kissed him. It was short but deep.

She let him go, biting her lip as she said, "Uh, that's for the anything."

Raph smirked a bit. "I'll take it," he said.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Hothead."

"Night Firecracker." He responded before heading down the stairs.

Alex smirked, walking back into the apartment. "So, did you suck face with him?" Marcus asked.

"Shut up, Marcus. Or I'll tell mom and dad you went out and got drunk at a party."

"Meany."


	28. Greg

Chapter 28

Greg

Kerry and Alex both walked into the common room where they were going to be hanging out with the Hamatos for that Friday night. Alex walked past Don, who was at his workstation doing his thing and plopped face down on the couch, completely ignoring the fact that she had just laid across Mikey and Leo as they played video games, her butt by Mikey and her head on Leo's lap. Kerry sat herself down in the love seat, pulling the guitar case from off her shoulder.

"Hello to you too," Leo chuckled down at the girl.

Alex grunted as a reply, closing her eyes.

"Is she okay?" Mikey asked Kerry about the redheaded girl.

"She's just tired." Kerry rolled her eyes a bit. "It was a tough day." she said as she pulled out her acoustic and started tuning it.

"Play me a lullaby, Kerry," Alex groaned. "I'm wanna go to sleep."

"No, no I will not." Kerry said with a roll of her eyes.

"Why not?" Alex asked, cover her mouth as she yawned.

"I want you to suffer." Kerry said as she started plucking at the strings.

Alex gave a small whine and then remained silent, eyes still closed as she tried to take a nap on Leo's lap. It helped that Kerry's music was soft along with her humming playing gentle and slow cords. Alex slowly started to drift off into a half sleep where she still kind of hear what everybody was saying, but was too out of it to really register any of it.

"Hey guys-what is Alex doing sprawled across my brothers?" Raph said, having walked in from a jog.

"She's sleepy," Mikey answered.

"Why is she sleepy?" Raph raised an eyebrow.

"Cause life is a piece of shit." Kerry grumbled a bit as she plucked away a soft lullaby like tune.

"So?" Raph scoffed. "We've all had a long week and you don't see me crashed on her couch. Or her brothers."

"That would be really weird, Dude," Don said giving him an odd look.

"Are you trying to tell us your gay, Raph?" Mikey joked.

"Saying there something wrong with being gay?" Raph asked.

"Ohhhhh, he turned that one around on you," Kerry chuckled. "Yeah Mikey. You a homophobe?"

"No!"

"But he didn't answer the question," Leo pointed out with a smirk.

"I'm not." Raph glared at Leo. Mikey was one thing, but Leo making fun of him he did not like.

"Again, why is she laying on my brothers?" Raph asked.

"She kind of just collapsed onto the couch," Leo told him.

"I told you, she's just really tired. We both are." Kerry shrugged. "I guess she's just bad with handling that kind of thing."

"Well, she has to get up. I have to pee," Mikey said. "AAAAAAlex," Mikey hummed. "AAAAAALeeeeex. Wakey wakey eggs and bakey." He didn't get a reply, so he smirked and pinched her rear end.

Alex's eyes shot open and she squealed, rolling off of the couch and onto the ground. She gave a small grunt when she made contact with the floor.

"Mikey!" Raph growled, on his feet in and instant, ready to pound his face in.

Alex sleepily rubbed her eyes. "What did I miss?" she asked. "And why did Mikey pinch my ass?" She blinked, glancing up at Raph to notice his angry expression. "Why is Raph mad _this _time?"

"Mikey pinched your ass cause you fell asleep and he needs to pee and it sent Raph into protect mode." Kerry explained as she went onto her facebook to check her notifications.

"Oh," Alex said. She put her hand out for Raph to help her up. He rolled his eyes but took her hand, pulling her easily to her feet. "Thanks, _Pumpkin_," she teased, sitting down on the couch. "You smell bad, by the way."

"Well thanks Babe." Raph rolled his eyes once again. "You look like you just woke up, by the way," he mocked. "See, I can state the obvious too."

"Fuck you, I'm cute," Alex said, rubbing her eye again. "And I smell like strawberries and apples."

"Fuck you, I'm sexy, and girls love it when we sweat." Raph smirked.

"We like the shine," Alex said. "Not the smell."

"Actually when males sweat it give off a type of pheromone that attracts potential mates. Even in humans." Don told her.

"Still gross," Kerry said pointing out the obvious. "I don't give a shit if my body is attracted to it, in my mind I'm like 'no'."

"Thank you," Alex said, reaching over to high five the black haired girl. "See, the girls know what's up!"

Kerry gave the girl a high five before playing a quick cord of "Girls Rule the World.' "That we do."

"Now go shower, Pumpkin," Alex teased. "You're stinking up the place with your man stank."

"This is a house full of guys who do martial arts almost 24/7...I think the man stink has been permanently absorbed by the walls," Kerry pointed out.

"Shut it, Hick." Raph rolled his eyes. "Fine fine, I'm going," he said and headed to go take a shower.

"Hey, Kerry?" Don asked, walking out of his lab with his iPad. "W-Who's Greg? A-And why did h-he say h-he have a g-great time with you last night?"

Mikey gaped at the girl before looking at Leo.

"Huh? Greg? ...Oh! He's my anatomy and physiology partner!" Kerry answered.

Mikey groaned, fighting back the wonderful joke he could make with that.

"Greg Rinehart?" Alex asked, glancing over at the girl. "The captain of the swim team?"

"Yeah," Kerry said pointing at the girl. "That's the guy! He's not to bad either, doesn't listen to the rumors about me at least."

"Wow, hottie with a heart," Alex chuckled, picking up the game controller to join in on Mass Effect.

"Yeah, and he got his team the trophy at the last swim meet." Kerry tacked on. "He's a total catch." she joked.

"I'd tap that," Alex laughed.

"Tap who?" Raph asked as he came back in. He plopped down next to Alex, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind Alex as she played the game. The other hand was using the towel hanging around his neck to dry his hair. "Kerry? I had a feeling you might swing that way," he joked as he sat down next to her.

"No, Greg, the captain of the swim team," Alex informed him. "Take that, Husk!"

"B-But why did he say he had a great time with you last night?" Don asked again.

"Oh we went to Franco's last night," Kerry said shrugging. "Wait, how did you know he said that?"

"F-Facebook," he told her.  
"Donnie," Kerry chuckled. "I just got the notification for that wall post like 10 seconds ago."

"I-I was scrolling," he told her. "I saw you were tagged in it and was curious," he admitted shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Soooo, why are you taking selfies...with Greg?"

"Huh?" Kerry asked looking up from her guitar. "Oh, that was his idea, says he loves taking selfies when out with cool girls."

"O-Oh," he muttered dejectedly. "W-Well, he's right. You are pretty cool. So uh, why were you out with him?"

"Thank, darlin'!" Kerry smiled at him. "Oh, we were working on a project for class. No biggie."

Alex glanced up, eyeing Don. She smirked realizing that the genius was jealous and worried about competition. "The guy's nice and fun and all, but he'd kind of a player. Right Kerry? Not potential boyfriend material."

"Oh heck no!" Kerry agreed with a chuckle. "He went through three girlfriends last month! No way would I do that."

"But I _would _tap that," Alex muttered. "Just like Garrus. That Turrian is _fine_."

"Garrus Vakarian?" Mikey asked. "But he's an alien."

"A loyal and sweet alien!" Kerry defended.

"With a fucking sexy two toned voice," Alex added.

"Oh gods the voice," Kerry muttered. She picked up her phone when her notification from Facebook sounded again. Another selfie of her with Greg showed up.

"Wow, that boy sure likes his selfies," Alex muttered, glancing over to see the photo on Kerry's phone.

"Did you know studies say that people who take excessive amounts of selfies are associated with narcissism and psychopathy?" Don riddled off.

"Really? Psychopathy?" Kerry blinked. "I had no idea." she chuckled. "Maybe I should be careful, Lexi."

"Nah, I've known Greg since second grade," she said. "He's a player and breaks girls hearts, but he's harmless." Don sent her a look.

"Well, I guess I'm fine then."

"W-Why does he mention you so much in posts about school?" he pressed.

"Huh?" Kerry asks and get up to look over his shoulder at his iPad, placing her hand on his arm in order to get in closer to see. "He does? I never noticed."

"Y-Yeah, see?" he said, blushing from the small contact.

"Why are you so far down on my wall?" Kerry asked as she turned to look at him.

"Well, I just kept going. You post a lot of cool stuff," he answered quickly.

"Really? Thanks!" Kerry said a blush in place. "I love those science facts you post on yours."

"Nerd!" Raph called out.

Alex elbowed him in the side. "_Shush_," she told him in a whisper. "Let them _bond_, Raphie Boy."

"But he's such a nerd!" Raph groaned to her.

"So?" Alex retorted. "One of you had to luck out and be smart. I see you got the short end of the stick."

"Really? You like them?" Don asked, an excited smile dusting his lips.

"Yeah! One totally saved my ass on a test last week." Kerry grinned at him.

Don smiled down at her softly, happy to know that she liked and accepted how nerdy and geeky he could be. But as he smiled another tagged photo popped up on her wall. This time of the guy's arms wrapped around Kerry's shoulders, pressing close to her as the girl smiled a bit awkwardly, hand resting on one of his arms as if she didn't know what else to do.

That seemed to snap Don out of his dazy, glaring down at the photo. He moved away from Kerry and sat down on the other side of Alex while Kerry sat back down on the loveseat. he started to type away on his little device, ignoring the other people in the room.

"Another one?" Kerry blinked. "Geeze he just might be narcissistic." she chuckled and went back to her guitar.

"I never said he wasn't," Alex said.

As time passed, the girls phones started ringing one after another. Eventually Kerry picked up her phone to look.

"Holy crap! Greg just changed his interest to men!" Kerry gaped.

"Huh, I didn't know Greg was actually gay," Alex said, though she knew very well that Greg wasn't. She glanced up at Don, who was smirking softly down at the device, crossing his arms over his chest. "Though now that I think about it, maybe that's why he's a player. Trying to compensate and cover it up." The other boys must have also caught on because they were fighting back laughs.

"I know, he never even looked at a guy before when I hung out with him, weird." Kerry blinked. "Now he says he dresses up in his sisters clothing!"

_Oh, now that was one just mean,_ she thought. Raph laughed beside her, resulting in another elbow to the ribs. "It's not funny," she whispered harshly to him.

"I-It just keeps going." Kerry blinked as she read one embarrassing confession after another. "Man, he has some _issues_," Kerry shook her head. "I might want to distance myself for a while," she giggled before getting up. "I'm going to grab a drink, anyone else want something?"

"Grab me a soda," Raph said.

"A water?" Alex asked.

"Same." Leo said raising his hand.

"Orange crush," Mikey added causing the girl to Laugh.

"I can't escape being a waitress, can I?" Kerry laughed before disappearing into the kitchen.

"You're the one that offered!" Alex yelled with a laugh. After Kerry was gone, Alex turned to Don and slowly asked, "Donatello, what did you do?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Alex," Don denied, still not hiding his smile.

"Oh, I don't know," she muttered. "Maybe it has something to do with that mad scientist-evil genius look in your eyes."

"I didn't do anything," he muttered.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Jealous Don is funny. But you don't have anything to worry about, Don. She's all yours already."

Don's smile fell. He shrugged and said, "You don't know that. We're not dating, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let some half wit even think he has a chance in taking her away. Not if she could get hurt."

"Awww," Alex gushed. She placed a hand onto Raph's chest and leaned into his side for a moment. "Isn't that cute, Pumpkin?"

"More like psychotic," Raph grumbled.

"Oh, like you won't try and scare off any guy that even looked at-" Don started to say, "...uh...pie."

"That's what I thought, Brainiac," Raph said once Don changed what he was saying.

"Both of you get so possessive over your toys," Mikey pointed out from his seat in the bean bag chair.

"You're scare away anyone that looked at who?" Alex asked Raph. However, her mind instantly went to what Mikey said, registering it. _What? Raph likes a girl? Who? They don't really know anybody else! _She bit her lip, feeling rather jealous herself. "Wait, who'd _your _toy be?"

"No one!" both Raph and Don yelled simultaneously.

Alex bit her lip, looking away. _Raph likes someone? Does that mean I'm preventing him from being happy with her? W-Why wouldn't he tell me? I don't want to stop him from being happy. What if I'm making him unhappy?_

"D-Don't worry about it, Alex! I mean, Raph is protective of you so yeah," Don said trying to fix it.

"Yeah, a little too much so, if you ask me," Alex muttered. "Thanks for that, by the way, Pumpkin. You're ranked right up there with Elliot on the possessive meter."

"It's my job." Raph smirked at her. "One I like. And _Pumpkin_? Really?"

"What? It's one of the dumbest pet names I thought of," Alex admitted, basking in the fact that he said he liked protecting her. "To counteract _Babe_. _Uh_, Babe." She cringed at the name.

"No Bae is, it means poop in Danish," Leo tacked on. Raph rolled his eyes.

"I guess I'd rather be Pumkin than poop," he muttered.

"Dammit, Leo, why didn't you tell me that sooner!" Alex groaned. "That would have been hilarious!"

"Hey Don?" Mikey asked. "You're not going to go all Gabriel Live Free or Die Hard on us, are you? We so don't need a Fire Sale."

"That's just a movie, Mike," Leo pointed out.

"Though I could so see Don working for NSA," Ale admitted.

"Oh, who's a sexy agent?" Kerry chuckled as she came in with everyone's drink, even some sweet tea for Don even though he didn't ask.

"S-Sexy?" Don stammered. "M-Me?"

Kerry just about dropped her drink before composing herself. "I-I uh, umm uh I-I-I," Alex leaned up and hit her leg. "Maybe!" She said when her friend snapped her from her daze.

"R-Really?" he asked. "W-Well, uh, maybe you are too…"

Alex bit her lip to stop herself from squealing, tucking herself into Raph's side even more, grasping his clean white shirt in her hands in excitement.

Kerry stared at him, a smile on her lips, "I-I am?" she murmured with an uncharacteristic giggle.

"Of course," Don told her, a small blush in his cheeks. He smiled softly and honestly at the black haired girl. "Y-You're beautiful, Kerry."

"D-D-Don I, I uh...I uh DOG!" Kerry suddenly yelled her face completely flustered. "I-I have to feed the dog!"

Alex facepalmed. "Kerry, you don't _have _a dog," she pointed out.

Kerry glared at her and said. "I have to adopt a dog."

"Can't you get a cat instead?" Alex pleaded, getting off the topic. "I like cats."

"No, cats are stupid. I want a dog." Kerry mumbled.

"Cats aren't stupid!" Alex defended. "They're cute!"

"Mean little fuckers," Raph grumbled.

"Not to me," Alex told him. "They always like me. Maybe they can just sense you don't like them. They can always sense it. That's why they always go bother people that don't like them."

"Cats don't like Raph," Mikey said. "My cat from when I was a kid hated him."

"Well, the cat wasn't the only thing that hates Raph," Alex teased. He messed up her hair for that comment, resulting in a, "Oh, come on! I was only joking!" She smoothed out her hair and asked, "Fine, what animal would _you _want, Hothead?"

"Turtle," Raph said. "Turtles are cool."

"I love turtle, but they don't really do anything," Alex said.

"Good listeners," Raph pointed out.

"You don't need a turtle to have someone to listen to you," Alex told him softly.

"But I'd like a turtle to talk to, you know?" Raph asked. "No worries about bothering anyone or someone freaking out over something you say, you know?"

"Yeah, but you know you can always come to me, right? I'm always here to listen. And if you just need someone to rant to, just let me know and I'll just sit there. No comments necessary," Alex said.

"Yeah, thanks, Alex." Raph smirked at her, bumping shoulders. The entire group settled into comfortable silence as they watched the gameplay.

"Hey Raph?" Alex asked as she shot another husk.

"Yeah?" he asked as he drank his soda.

"I'll buy you a turtle if you get me a kitten," she offered.

Raph laughed a bit. "How about no."

"Party pooping Pumpkin," she pouted.

"I want a puppy," Kerry pouted as she played Mr. Brightside, slumping against the back of the love seat.

"You're not getting a puppy," Alex told her. "You're building doesn't allow animals, remember? I checked. I was going to get you one for Christmas."

"Fuck my building." Kerry grumbled. "I wanted an Italian Greyhound or a fucking Weiner dog but no they just had to fuck that up. It's not like I don't have enough room, I'm alone in that apartment."

"You know you're always welcome to stay the night at my place," Alex told her.

"Yeah, but Marcus." Kerry pointed out to her.

"I can beat Marcus's ass," Alex told her.

"Doesn't keep him from staring at mine." Kerry grumbled,

"He _what_?" Don squeaked.

"He stares at my ass," Kerry repeated as if obvious.

"Relax, Don," Alex said. "I normally catch and yell at him."

"He still does it until I punch his shoulder." Kerry said.

"And you punch hard," Alex muttered, rubbing her shoulder subconsciously.

"See Honey," Kerry said and reached across Alex to pat Don's knee. "I'm just fine." She smiled.

"A-As long as you're sure," he muttered, looking down at where her hand has touched.

"Yeah," Kerry said taking her hand back and started playing her guitar again.

"_Hey I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number so call me maybe. It's hard to look right at you baby, but here's my number so call me maybe."_

"Heeeey, it's my Baby Daddy," Kerry said recognizing the song.

"What?" Don squealed again.

Alex rolled her eyes and answered the phone. "Hey Ellie," she greeted.

"Hey, baby," Kerry said putting her guitar down and sitting by her friend. "What's up?"

"_Is that my baby's momma?"_ Ellie asked. "_Hey, how's my big boy doing?"_

"He's doing great, using my bladder like a squeak toy but whatever," Kerry joked with a smile.

"You're pregnant?" Mikey asked in a whisper.

"_I thought he was in your brain?" _Elliot asked.

"It was getting cramped up there so he migrated," Kerry said and the boys looked more disturbed by the conversation.

"I'm confused," Leo stated. "What's going on?

"They have an imaginary brain baby together," Alex told him. "Because they're weird."

"So you're not actually pregnant?" Don asked.

"What NO!" Kerry blinked. "He wanted to rent my brain and offered to give me my first born child in exchange. It's a brain baby."

"Oh thank God," Don sighed putting his face into his hands.

"You didn't actually think…" Alex trailed off.

"Shut up," Don said holding a finger out to her. "She is a very confusing woman, you never know."

"I'm right here," Kerry grumbled.

"_And I'm still here,"_ Elliot said on the phone.

"I'm purposely ignoring you, Dick," Alex told her brother.

"I got what I wanted from you." Kerry added. "I have no need for you."

"_What?" _Elliot gasped dramatically. "_How could you do this to me? We share something precious together!"_

"You never have time for me anymore!" Kerry said pretending to cry. "A-And your lapdance sucked!"

"Lapdance!?" Don yelled, eyes wide, face bright red.

"Donatello, relax," Alex told him. "They're not being serious."

Raph couldn't take it anymore. He burst out into loud laughter from watching his brother have a mental freak out. "O-oh _God_, you-your face wa-was priceless."

"Raph, be nice," Alex said, elbowing the redhead.

"_Raph?"_ Elliot asked. "_You mean the guy I've gotta beat up?"_

"Yes, that guy," Alex responded.

"The hell did I do?" Raph grumbled.

"You were born." Kerry suggested. To which Alex laughed.

"_You've violated my baby sister,"_ Ellie informed him.

"I did no such thing!" Raph defended.

"_Yes you did!"_ Ellie yelled. "_You've kissed my baby sister who knows how many times!"_

"Yeah and? She instigated most of those kisses." Raph smirked.

"I have not!" Alex protested.

"Have too." Kerry argued for Raph.

_Traitor!_ "No I haven't," Alex said. "He has."

"_I don't care who has or hasn't," _Elliot said. "_I'm still kicking his ass."_

"Don't be like that baby." Kerry teased. "It's cute!"

"_Sorry, Dubois," _El said. "_Still gotta do it."_

"Fine then, you just lost visitation rights!" Kerry said and picked up her guitar.

There was a couple moments of silence before Elliot said, "_Sorry baby, still gotta go with kicking his ass."_

"I'm leaving you for Don!" Kerry yelled at him.

"Me?" Don asked, blinking up at Kerry. "Uh, okay. We'll raise this brain child right!"

Kerry grinned and stood up giving Don a hug around the shoulders from behind the couch. "That's right!" she laughed. "None of this violence crap."

Don blushed, but smirked, placing his hands on Kerry's arms.

"Why did you call me?" Alex asked.

"_Oh, right,"_ Ellie said. "_You and Kerry have to come home for dinner if you want anything. Otherwise I'm going to eat it all."_

"Dick," Alex insulted.

"And now you steal my food?!" Kerry gasped. "Asswipe," she grumbled.

"_Hey, I think you getting the baby is the better deal here, Dubois," _Elliot said. "_Anywho! Time to come home girlies!"_ He hung up the phone after that.

"Awww," Kerry pouted.

"We're having tacos for dinner," Alex informed the girl.

"...This is acceptable," Kerry said releasing Don.

"Do you really have to go?" Mikey asked.

"Food is on the line here," Kerry said patting his head. "I'm afraid we must go!"

"Well, it was nice hanging out with you guys," Leo told them.

"Be safe on your way there," Don said.

"Same to you, Leo," Kerry said with a grin. "Don, I'll text you later with baby names," she joked as she packed up her guitar, hitting Raph's shoulder in goodbye.

"Watch my future step-nephew, kay, Hick," Raph joked causing the girl to roll her eyes. "Alex, watch yourself, okay?" he smirked

"Always do," she told him, kissing him on the cheek before getting up.

"Let's go," Kerry smirked as she tossed an arm around her friend's shoulder, calling out in farewell again.


	29. Tested

Chapter 29

Tested

Demonstrations were a big part of what Alex and Elliot did during their classes. They'd show the students what they were learning in real time before slowing it down step by step. Then, at the end of the week the, if the classes behaved and had gotten everything they needed learned, they'd spar in from of them. The kids always found that extremely enjoyable.

And since Elliot was back, Alex hadn't won a since spar in their demonstrations. Before, Marcus had taken his place, and Alex often beat him. Marcus was more concerned with girls than he was with his martial arts training. And he wasn't the only one that had his attention divided. Nathan was primarily focused on school and Zack really wasn't all that into martial arts as he had been when he was younger. He was more into skating or hanging out with is friends.

Alex and Elliot were really the only two that were as devoted to the family business as their parents were. The two were most likely going to be taking over the business when their parents no longer wanted or were able to run it, which was why they were given the most hours to work in the dojo.

"Okay, so who wants to decide what I use today?" Elliot asked the kids.

Several students raised their hands, but he called on one small girl in the back. "Bo staff!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Okay," Ellie said, grabbed the padded sparring staff. "And what do you think Sensei Alex could use?"

Nobody raised their hands that time. At the same time, four people in the front called out, "Sword!" They always loved it when she used the sword. It was her specialty, after all.

Alex smirked and caught the sparring sword her brother tossed her way. "Yes," she exclaimed.

"Why do they always pick what you're best at?" he asked.  
"Because they love me," Alex teased. "And they want me to kick your butt."

"Not going to happen, Munchkin," he told her.

"We'll see about that," Alex thought, bowing to her brother, resulting in a respectful bow from him as well.

Alex moved in quick, demonstrating how they shouldn't go straight into a fight, just as they had told them at the beginning of the class. The young girl swung and was blocked. She shifted, trying to attack from the opposite side, but was met with another block. Alex dropped down to one of her knees and tried to go for Elliot's legs, but again, he blocked.

Alex moved to get up and hand to quickly bring her sword up to protect her neck where Elliot tried to hit, but didn't move quick enough. He hit her on the shoulder and neck before shifting and hitting her in the stomach, resulting in a huff.

"Can anybody tell us what Alex was demonstrating?" Elliot asked, helping the girl to stand upright.

"How not to win a fight?" one of the boys joked.

"Well, yes, but not what I was looking for," Ellie laughed.

"Not to underestimate your opponent before you know what they're capable of?" another boy answered.

"Exactly," Alex muttered, finally catching her breath.

"Can we watch one more?" a girl in the front asked.

"Yeah," a boy agreed. "Just you two duking it out?"

"Do we have time?" Alex asked her brother.

Elliot glanced over at the clock and nodded with a smirk. "Oh yeah," he answered.

The two bowed to one another again. Elliot was the first to engage this time. He swung left and right, over and over again. It took everything Alex had to keep up with her blocks. He raised the bow up, aiming for her neck again, but Alex dropped down, swinging for his stomach.

Elliot backed up just in time to avoid the attack, however, Alex did managed to catch the front of his shirt with her sword. She smirked, happy with herself before Elliot moved in to attack again. She used the area closest to the handle to help divert the jab, but Elliot had anticipated her block. He quickly dropped down to his knees and swung the bo staff out, hitting the girl in the back of the knees, sending her flat on her back. Once again knocking the air out of her lungs.

"And that's it for class today!" Elliot told the class, standing up. "Have a good weekend!"

Alex remained on the floor as they students left the dojo. Elliot bend down over the girl, smirking as he checked to make sure she was okay.

"Ow," she groaned long and slow.

"Damn," a voice said once the kids filtered out. "Dick kicked your ass!" Kerry laughed a bit from her spot leaning against the doorway. Behind her stood four very familiar figures.

"Fuck you," Alex groaned again, still not moving. "You try fighting against him. Guarantee you wouldn't do any better."

"Who knows, I might." Kerry smirked at Elliot.

"No, you wouldn't, Dubois," Elliot told her. "Gotta take my word on that."

"Won't fight me?" Kerry pretended to pout as she came in, leaving the brothers behind to give him a hug hello.

"Not while you carry my brain baby, I won't," Ellie told her, hugging her tightly, rocking her back and forth slightly before letting her go.

"Not your brain baby anymore," Kerry snickered causing Don to smirk slightly as he stood at the door with his brothers.

"Hey, I'm still technically the father, so I do get at least some rights," Elliot joked. "I mean, At least once a week or so."

"Hmm fine," Kerry muttered as if this was big trouble. She turned and waved the guys in, and they bowed as they entered the dojo and stepped onto the mat, being from a different dojo it was only expected to be respectful. "This is Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Donnie," she introduced. "Guys, this is Dick," she said smirking.

"Hey guys," Alex muttered.

"It's an honor to meet you," Leo said. "We've heard so much about you."

"All bad, I hope," Elliot joked.

"Of course, what else would I tell them?" Alex said from her place on the floor.

"That I'm the sexiest man alive!"

"Oh, not with _that _again," Alex groaned.

Raph chuckled and stepped over to her, taking her hands in his. "You okay there, Firecracker?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Thanks Raph."

"So," Elliot said, crossing his arms over his chest. "_You're_ Raph?" Glaring his identically green eyes as his sister that the younger redheaded male.

"Yeah, man." Raph said holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Elliot narrowed his eyes and placed his hand in Raph's. However, instead of shaking it, Elliot squeezed extremely harm, and twisted in a way to throw Raph over his shoulder. Raph landed on his back and rolled back up to his feet, looking extremely shocked at what just happened. Before he had the chance to do anything else, Elliot kicked Raph in the chest, backing him up. He then punched Raph in the face once, twice, three times.

"Elliot!" Alex screamed, running up behind him. _What the hell is he doing? _Alex knew he said he was going to beat up Raph, but she didn't actually think he was being serious! _What the hell was his problem?_ All she knew was that she couldn't let Elliot do that to Raph. Raph didn't deserve any of it.

Alex ran over and jumped up, so that she had her legs on his shoulders, secured tightly around his neck, but not hard enough to break his neck snack and then leaned backwards. She placed her hands on the ground and continued to pull, throwing Elliot off and away from Raph.

She moved on top of him, pinning him to the ground so he couldn't get back up and attack Raph. He shifted, trying to get her off of him, but Alex punching him in the face as hard as she could, disorienting him just enough to get him to sto. "What the hell is your problem?" Alex screamed at her brother.

"I told you I had to beat him!" Elliot tried to explain. "It's my du-"

"The hell it is!" she screamed. "What the fuck is wrong with you? These are my friends! You don't go and beat the shit out of them just because of some wacked sense of duty you think you have!"

"God, you are such a dick!" Kerry said punching his chest. "What the fuck, Ellie!" she said hitting him again. Leo and Don helped their brother up, the later looking at his face, seeing if it needed any doctoring.

Alex got up, pulling Elliot up with her by his shirt. She pushed him backwards towards the exit, not letting him go. "Go home and cool off and I swear to God if you don't come to your senses, Ellie…"

"I wasn't actually going to do any permanent da-" Elliot tried to plead to his sister.

"I don't want to hear it!" she told him, shoving him outside. She stood in the doorway and looked out at him. "I can't believe you, Ellie."

"Alex, I-"

Alex shook her head, running her hands through her hair. "I can't talk to you right now, Elliot. Go home."

"Ale-"

"_ELLIOT_!" Alex yelled as a warning.

Elliot looked sadly at his sister before nodding his head and rubbing his neck. He turned without another word and started to head home.

Alex quickly turned and ran back inside, needing to make sure Raph was okay. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I don't know why he did that! Oh God, are you okay?

"He's fine Alex, but his face will be bruised." Don assured her as Raph swore a bit as he touched his nose.

"I'm so sorry, Raph," Alex told him, hand over her mouth.

"It was your fucking brother, not you." Raph hissed a bit.

"Yeah, but I should have stopped him," Alex said. "I mean, he always said he was going to do it, but I never took him seriously. It's just something brothers say, right? I-I-I didn't actually think he'd do it. Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"I guess I can't complain, if I had a little sister I would do the same," Raph said with a slight sigh. "Of course I do have Mikey."

"Hey!" Mikey snapped a bit, "Not cool dude."

"L-Let me go get you some ice," Alex said. She turned and ran to the back room where they kept the refrigerator with the ice packs in it. She grabbed one, as well as a wash cloth to wrap it in before returning back to the guys. She gently placed it against Raph's eye, making him wince. "I'm sorry," she muttered, leaving her hand on the pack as he tried to take it from her to do it himself.

"He'll be fine," Leo assured.

"I'm so sorry, guys," Alex pressed. "I sure know how to ruin a night, huh?"

"You didn't ruin anything, Alex. It's Dick's fault not yours!" Kerry assured her. "Or mine, I should have called from the apartment not bring them here," she muttered.

"No, you couldn't have known Ellie would do this," Alex said. "Plus, I've wanted them to meet him anyways, so it would have happened then right?" She turned back to Raph and sighed. "So much trouble for a girl your not even dating."

"Don't worry about it," Raph assured her again. "Like you said it would have happened not matter what. Just forget about it."

Alex shook her head. "I can't," she admitted. "You got hurt because of me. And he had no right to do that to you."

"Alex, I said it's fine." Raph growled. "Why can you never just be 'okay' when I say I'm fine or it's no big deal, huh?"

Alex didn't know what to say to that. A small sigh admitted from the female redhead and she leaned forward, resting her head at the crook of his neck, her hands clasped to the front of his shirt. "I-I just," she muttered, "don't want to see you hurt. _Ever_. Especially because of me."

"I'm fine with getting hurt, you're okay, my brothers are okay, and I'm not dead," Raph muttered. "That's a good day in my book," he sighed hugging her back.

"But not in mine," she muttered. "You got hurt."

"Am I dead?" Raph chuckled. "No, so no complaints from you."

Alex sighed and pulled back just enough to look at him. "I guess you have a point," she muttered. "And I swear to God, Elliot's not going to get away with this. I'm kicking his ass when I get home."

"Before that," Kerry said. "We came by to see if you wanted to go see a movie with us."

"Uh, yeah," Alex answered, pulling away from Raph. "Just let me shower really quick?"

* * *

The group lucked out. The theater their movie was in just so happened to be the newly renovated one with the comfortable reclining chairs. Alex and Kerry had gone there once before, right after they opened it and nearly fell asleep during an action movie due to just how comfortable the chairs really were.

Kerry went to help Mikey and Don with the snacks and drinks, while Leo ran off for a bathroom break before the movie started. Alex and Raph were keeping their seats for them in the relatively packed theater.

Alex kept spacing out as trivia questions were being repeated on the screen. She just couldn't get over what happened earlier that evening. How could Elliot do something like that? He knew Raph was her friend. He knew that Alex actually had feelings for him! How could he risk not only her friendship with him, but the chances of him still ever wanting to go out with her after that?

"So uh," Raph started. "Thanks, for uh, getting your brother off."

Alex turned her head in Raph's direction. He was sitting right next to her, but she had just been a thousand miles away in her thoughts. Even in the dark theater, Alex could shee the extremely bruised and slightly swollen half of his face. She raised her hand and gently placed it over the sore skin, trying not to hurt him in doing so. _This is my fault,_ she thought with a sigh.

"Of course," she told him. "I couldn't just stand there."

"It was pretty cool," Raph muttered. "The way you took him down, you know."

"It was the first thing that came to mind," Alex admitted. "I was kind of on autopilot, you know? Instinct kicked in."

"It was hot," he smirked a bit.

Alex choked on air. Her eyes went wide as she stared at him. "What?" she blurted out in a squeek.

"It was hot." Raph smirked bigger. "The way you took him down. It's so sexy when a guy's girl isn't afraid to get dirty protecting him."

Alex opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she couldn't make any noise. Her face was beat red, everything feeling extremely hot. _Did he seriously just say that?_ she asked herself. _He thought what I did was hot? Oh God, this boy really is trying to kill me._ "T-Thanks, I guess," she muttered. _Oh, I look so stupid! Come on, Alex don't let him get away with embarrassing you! _"But I bet you probably would have preferred my legs over your shoulders instead," she tried to tease.

"Oh yes I did." Raph smirked, refusing to let her get the better of him.

Alex groaned and slid down in her seat, trying not to imagine the situation after he outwardly admitted that he did, in fact, want her legs. Her face grew even more red at that. "I can't win with you," she muttered.

"Nooope," he drew out with a grin.

Alex sighed. At least Raph was still himself. He wasn't acting any differently around her because of it. She glanced back up at him, taking one of his hands in her's shyly and admitted, "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, you know that, right?"

"And I'd look forward to it," he grinned as he squeezed her hand back.

Alex smiled softly at that. She moved closer, hand still in his and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Good to know," she muttered. "Though I think it's be hotter seeing you fight."

"I'm always hot." Raph answered.

"Not so much right now, Hotshot," Alex teased. "You look like shit."

"Gee thanks," Raph grumbled.

"Anytime, Pumpkin," she laughed, placing her other hand on his arm that she was leaning against subconsciously. "Can't let your head get too big now, can I? You'd be just _utterly unbearable_."

"I'd be wonderful!" he argued. "I'm always wonderful!"

"Wonderful _how_?" she asked with a roll of her eyes. "If you ask me, I'd have to say you're barely tolerated," she joked, nudging him, making sure he knew she was joking.

"I'd be a wonderful boyfriend, who was confident and attract so many friends for you."

"Oh, are you saying you want to be my boyfriend there, Pumpkin?" she asked, playing it off as a joke, though she kind of wanted him to say an honest yes.

"Yes, yes I am, Firecracker," he teased her.

"You're teasing me," she muttered, looking away from him. _I knew that was coming_, she thought. _Why do I set myself up to get hurt like that?_

"And you were teasing me. Are we done stating the obvious?"

"No," she stated. "You'd make a wonderful boyfriend for some lucky girl, you know that?" she muttered.

"Yeah, but you were teasing me just now," Raph joked. "Stop going suddenly serious on me."

"Oh, it's not like you didn't enjoy hearing that," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, I did," Raph admitted with a chuckle.

"See, I know you. I know what you like and what you want to hear," Alex muttered.

"That sounds really dirty," Kerry said as she came back with the snacks with her two boys.

"I know what you want to hear too," Alex told the girl.

"Oh, talk dirty to me baby." Kerry winked to her.

"You wish," Alex laughed. "I've dirty talked myself dry with Raph just now. You're out of luck."

"Thanks a lot Raph, now I don't get any," Kerry grumbled. "You're so selfish."

"I'm sure Don wouldn't mind," Alex laughed. "He's the one sitting next to you."

"Yeah, Brainiac," Raph played along. "Talk to her about some of those _experiments _you want to try." Alex giggled, knuckle bumping him for that.

"E-Experiments?" Kerry muttered, eyes wide as she turned to stare at Don.

"I-I-I-I-I don't kn...They're ju...Oh, the previews are starting!" Don squeaked.

Alex leaned up to whisper to Raph in order to not disturb anybody else watching the previews. "They're way to easy," she giggled.

"They want it so bad." Raph snickered a bit, peeking at the two. They're hands were so close they were almost holding hands. Almost, is the key word here.

"They drive me crazy," Alex whispered again, he lips accidentally brushing his ear. "They need a good lay together. Don't you think?"

Raph blushed at the feeling of her lips against his ear. "Yeah, Don is almost as bad as Leo when it comes to a stick up his ass. A good lay with a wild girl like Kerry should loosen him up," he said clearing his throat.

"You know who else needs to get laid?" Alex asked. "Leo. I mean, you just said it yourself he's got a stick up his ass."

"Tell me about it." Raph mumbled. "Get him off mine at least."

"And we don't want anybody messing up that ass of yours, do we?" Alex joked.

"No, it is fine." Raph smirked.

"You are so cocky," Alex giggled with an eyeroll.

"You love it," he smirked.

_Oh I can get him with this one,_ Alex thought with a blush. She leaned in, one hand on his neck as she whispered, brushing her lips against his ear, "Wouldn't know," she said. "I haven't seen it yet."

Raph choked on his drink causing people to look at the poor boy with the red face. Alex gently patted his back, trying to help him clear it up.

Alex laughed. "I win."

"Fuck you," Raph growled at her.

"You would like that, wouldn't you," she continued to tease.

"Fucking bitch."

"Yeah, but I'm your '_Fucking Bitch,'_" Alex laughed.

"Just shut up!" Raph hissed at her.

"Guys, we're trying to watch!" Kerry hissed, finally taking Don's hand in hers. "We'll move if you won't shut up.

Alex rolled her eyes, glancing up at the previews. They still had a couple more before the movie started. She sat up, kissed Raph on the cheek and got up out of her chair to go to the bathroom.

* * *

It was extremely cold as the group walked home together from watching Nightmare Before Christmas. Alex was the first on the stop as they went, though they still had a good several minutes before they'd reach her apartment building.

"I love that movie!" Kerry squealed happily. "Tim Burton's animations are so good!"

"Genius!" Mikey agreed, high fiving the girl.

"I like the music more than the movie," Alex admitted.

"Come on, Alex! He is one of the few movie makers to still use claymation instead of computers!"

"The only claymation I really like is Gumby," she admitted with a shrug.

"...Yeah and this movie isn't as good as the claymation in Corpse Bride. I mean the underworld was so colorful!"

Alex stopped, which meant she pulled Raph to a stop, seeing as she was holding his hand. She had stopped because sitting outside on the front steps of her apartment building was Elliot, who upon seeing the group approach, stood up and slowly made his way to them, standing slightly slouched, hands in his pockets. Alex moved in front of Raph, putting herself between Raph and her brother.

He stopped short of the group by several feet, looking at Raph and Alex only. His eyes lingered on their intertwined hands for several long seconds before his eyes went up to meet Raph's. He nodded ever so slightly, which Raph took and nodded back.

"Think before you do anything stupid here, El," Alex told him slowly.

"Raph," Elliot said, putting his hand out to shake.

Raph gave Alex's hand a small squeeze before moving around her without letting her hand go. "Elliot," Raph answered, putting his other hand into Elliot's.

Alex blinked, her eyes moving from one redheaded male to the other. She had no idea what just happened or why they weren't angry with one another. She was happy nobody was throwing fists, but she was completely in the dark as to why. She wasn't going to bring it up and chance ruining it though.

"Uhhhhh." Kerry blinked looking between the two. "Right, uh um." Kerry said for once not knowing what to say out loud.

"W-Well, I guess we should head in," Alex muttered. "Thanks for the invite guys. I'll see you Monday?"

"U-Uh yeah, see you later," Kerry said taking Don's hand pulling him along, Leo and Mikey following after her after calling bye to her. Raph looked at Elliot hesitantly before kissing her head and following after his brothers to walk Kerry home.

Alex was left with Elliot after she watched her friends round the corner. She turned to her brother and crossed her arms, staring at him. "Okay, I'm not going to say anything. Raph's not angry. You seem to have made some sort of thing up to him or whatever, but I swear to God if you ever do anything like that ever again, I'll kill you. I mean it, Ellie. You had _no right_ doing that."

"Right," Elliot said. "I'm sorry, Alex."

"Mhm," she hummed, wrapping her arm around his waist as they made their way into the building. "Dick."

"Munchmallow."

Several minutes later, Alex plopped down on her bed, phone in hand to text Kerry about what had happened not too long ago.

**Alex: I don't get what just happened….**

**Heterosexual Partner: Maybe it was all a test? I wouldn't put it past him to pull shit like that.**

**Alex: Test? But what KIND of test?**

**Heterosexual Partner: Honestly? An anti-Fred test. **

**Alex: What the hell is an "anti-Fred Test?"**

**Heterosexual Partner: Yeah think about it. Fred left you high and dry as soon as things got tough or someone threatened his position. Elliot might have been testing Raph to make sure he wasn't the same. I'm surprised he didn't try something like that on me.**

_So he was making sure Raph would stay? By beating the shit out of him?_ Alex sighed, rolling her eyes as she ran a hand through her hair. _I'm surrounded by idiots. Very overprotective idiots. The lot of them. _

**Alex: 1) Elliot wouldn't do anything to hurt you. 2) I don't need protecting like that. If that ever happens again, it's not my fault and they didn't deserve to hang around anyways. 3) HE CAN'T JUST BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THE GUY I LIKE!**

**Heterosexual Partner: 1) You never know. 2) He was making sure. That is kinda his job. 3) I think Raph gets it and forgives him. I really do believe what he said about if he had a little sister he'd be the same.**

**Alex: I'm surrounded by too many overprotective people. But you're probably right about Raph. **

**Alex: Oh God, imagine if Raph ever has a daughter! That poor baby. **

**Hetersexual Partner: Yeah, and probably Gabriel too.**

**Alex: You know Gabriel isn't real, right?**

**Heterosexual Partner: Stop killing my dreams! My Brain child will be beautiful and have my wit and Donnie's brain and your brother's cute nose.**

**Alex: Please don't call my brother's nose cute! EW!**

**Heterosexual Partner: ...how do you think a child with me and Don would actually look?**

**Alex: It would be a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL baby with Don's long brown hair and your warm skin and eyes. And if you had another, it would have your hair and his eyes. Either way, gorgeous babies.**

**Heterosexcual Partner: ...that answer was really quick and thought out. Have you thought of that before?!**

**Alex:...Maaaaaybe….**

**Heterosexual Partner: Really? You spend time imagining your future Godchildren?**

**Alex: Hey, I love kids. What can I say?**

**Heterosexual Partner: You will have lovely red headed babies with Raph. Carry on the O'Neil tradition. **

Alex blushed, biting her lip as she tried to picture little redheads of her own running around. She shook her head, knowing that the thought was far too appealing than it should have been, seeing as she wasn't actually in a relationship with the guy. But she couldn't deny that she liked the thought. She liked it a lot.

**Alex: I would like that.**

**Alex:...And the process of making them….**

**Alex: Oh God. I can't believe I just sent that!**

**Alex: Ignore that. Ignore that completely!**

**Heterosexual Partner: It's already been screenshot**

**Alex: NO! Who the hell would you send that to anyway! This is a private conversation!**

**Heterosexual Partner: Blackmail baby**

**Alex: Why would you do this to me? Who would you blackmail to against?**

**Alex: KEEEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYY!**

**Alex: Damn Fruitcake. This is why nobody likes fruitcake. **

**Heterosexual Partner: And this is why I need blackmail. See how you wound me.**

**Alex: Oh please. You love me and your nickname. **

**Alex: But seriously, you won't show Raph...Right?**

**Heterosexual Partner: I don't know. I'm pretty wounded.**

**Alex: Kerry, I'm begging you here. I mean, we're not even really dating. If he found out I actually found that thought comforting...Oh God…**

**Heterosexual Partner: ...Promise to love me forever?**

**Alex: Of course. You're stuck with me, Fruitcake. I'm not going anywhere.**

**Heterosexual Partner: Well shit, I guess I can't very well show anyone now can I?**

**Alex: ….Love you Fruitcake! 3 3 3**


	30. Noel

Chapter 30

Noel

"Why couldn't we take the elevator!" Elliot whined as he and his younger sister walked up the stairs to Kerry's apartment to pick her up.

"Because you're a fatass and the exercise is good," Alex told him.

"My ass is hot stuff, thank you very much," Ellie told her. He two stepped to get ahead of her and stuck his butt out, almost hitting her in the face as she walked.

"Dick," Alex muttered, rolling her eyes.

Around the next corner of the stairwell the sound of feet rushing down the steps sounded, though it was off.

"No no no I'm going to be late!" a soft voice muttered to themselves. A woman, around twenty years old rushed around the corner, long dark curls pulled back into a ponytail as she dug around in her purse. She was a slender woman, a little taller than Alex and a bit more darker skinned. Light grey eyes sat behind long lashes the brushed her smooth looking cheekbones. She gave a sudden gasp as a loud click sounded and she suddenly went tumbling down, on a crash course with the hard marble stairs.

Elliot, moving quickly, lunged towards the girl, catching her in his arms, securing her. "Easy there," he told her. "I know I'm easy to fall for, but this is a little much, don't you think, Beautiful?"

"Oh!" the woman said, arms clutching around his shoulders automatically as she balance wavered. She couldn't seem to catch her footing again, an odd clicking sound filling the air as she tried. "I-I am so sorry!" she said in a quiet voice, though that seemed to be her normal volume.

"It is absolutely my pleasure, Ma'am," he told her, a playful smirk in place. The woman scowled a bit and hit his shoulder, though it was more cute than intimidating.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked in concern.

"I-I, um, yes. I'm fine but could you, umm here just uh," the woman muttered, shifting around, reaching down as Elliot held her, and grasped her leg. "M-My prosthetic came loose," she explained and soon enough her leg clicked one last time and came loose in her hand. "I guess I didn't secure it well enough.

"Hey, it happens," Elliot told her, holding her firmly but gently as she worked. "I know I always loose my left eyeball."

The woman blinked her clear grey eyes for a second before looking up at him with a gaping mouth.

"Ignore him," Alex groan. "He's trying to be funny and it's coming out as insulting."

"Well, I suppose it's better than him freaking out," the woman huffed a bit, obviously too nice to say something bad to him. She blew a dark strand of hair from her face as she finally got her leg secured correctly.

"It would take a lot more than that to freak me out, Beautiful," he told her.

"M-My name is not Beautiful." The woman muttered to him, straightening up.

"But you're gorgeous! How could your name be anything but?" Elliot flirted. The woman's cheeks turned red as he complimented her so easily. She finally got her footing and started hitting his shoulder.

"I-I can stand now! Y-You can let me go, thank you," she murmured looking away from him, head ducked shyly as she muttered something else quietly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Alex ask, not catching what she had said.

"I-I said," the woman blushed ducking her head more, peeking at them from under her long lashes. "M-My name is E-Esme. T-Thank you for catching me."

"Beautiful, I'll always be here to catch you," Elliot told her smoothly. He stuck out his hand to shake her's. "Elliot, and this will be your future sister-in -law, Alex."

Esme blushed darkly but took his hand anyway. "Oh very funny," she grumbled a bit. "Nice to meet you Alex," she said to the girl, a smile on her lips as she did.

"Nice to meet to you too, Esme," Alex told her with a soft smile, hitting her other on the arm for his comment. "And again, ignore the idiot."

"You two don't live in the building." Esme murmured looking between them. "Do you? I haven't seen you before.

"No, we're picking up my friend," Alex told her. "Do you know Kerry?"

"Mrs. Medina's girl?" Esme asked and nodded. "Yes I do, the girl helped me move in, carrying the more heavier boxes for me. I haven't had a chance to meet her mother though," she said with furrowed brows, as if she couldn't understand that.

"She's travels a lot for work," Alex said, trying to be polite about the rather neglectful mother.

"I wish I lived here," Elliot stated. "If it meant I got to see you more often. Just looking at you brightened my Christmas Eve."

"That's too bad." Esme murmured before looking to her brother. "Oh will you hush!" Esme said but then blushed when she realized what she said, covering her lips with her tiny finger tips. What in the world had come over her! "S-Sorry."

Elliot smirked. He picked up her hand and kissed it gently. "I'm afraid we must take our leave now, Beautiful. Grant me your number and I swear I'll make you the happiest girl in the world. Besides my sister, of course."

Esme gaped at him. "I-I but, why would I, uh but, um," she sputtered out with wide eyes. Had he just asked for her number?!

"Okay, that's it," Alex muttered. She grabbed Elliot by the ear and pulled him away from the young woman. "I'm sorry. Ignore the mouth. Have a wonderful Christmas, Esme!"

"O-oh, thank you!" Esme called out after her. "Both of you have a wonderful night, send my regards to Kerry!" she said before shaking her head. _What in the world_, she thought before remembering she was in a hurry. "Oh no!" she gasped and rushed down the stairs.

"What the hell, Buttmunch!" Elliot groaned, pinching a nerve in her wrist to make her let go. "I was trying to ask her out!"

"Well, you have a really weird way of doing it!" Alex grumbled.

"That's how I always get my girls!" he answered. "I make them feel like the most beautiful thing in the world. As they should feel! They deserve to have me eating out of her hands! Like she's royalty!"

"Was that what you were aiming for?" Alex laughed.

"What did you think I was doing?" he asked.

"Shamelessly flirting, to be honest," she told him. She knocked on Kerry's door and waited for an answer. "You definitely were laying it on extremely think."

"One second!" Kerry called out there was some swearing and shuffling. Finally the door opened to reveal a flustered Kerry, behind her sat a tub with some side dishes and presents. "Hey!" she breathed a smile spreading across her darkly painted lips.

"Esme say's hello," Alex told her, helping her with everything she had to carry, as well as Elliot.

"Do you have her number by any chance, Dubois?" Elliot asked.

"Oh you mean Essy?" Kerry blinked. "Oh um yeah, she gave it to me in case I needed anything, why?" she asked tilting her head.

"I will be in your debt forever is you give me her number! I swear, I've met the love of my life!" Elliot exclaimed.

"Oh here he goes again," Alex groaned.

"I am so not giving you her number!" Kerry scoffed. "She doesn't need you creeping on her, Dick!" she laughed with a roll of her eyes.

"Please?" Elliot begged. "Alex pulled me away before she gave me an answer. I just want to call her and ask her out. If she says no, I'll never bother her again. I sear. Just give my heart a chance!"

"Hmmm, what did you get me for Christmas?" Kerry joked. "If it's awesome I might think about giving it as an extra gift."

"I bought fighting claws when I was in Japan and I was going to give them to you!" he told her. "Come on, please!"

"Oh my gosh, really?!" Kerry grinned brightly. "Deal!" she said and riddled off the number.

"Oh, I love you, Dubois," Ellie muttered, putting the number in his phone. "I love you dearly."

"Everyone does, love!" Kerry giggled. "So, are we meeting the guys at your place?"

"They'll be there in about an hour," Alex told her as they loaded everything into the back of his car.

"Sweet!" Kerry grinned as she fixed her skirt.

* * *

Alex had finished changing into her short red dress that went to the middle of her thigh and high heeled black ankle boots, leaving her legs bare. Around her midsection was a thin black belt, emphasizing how small she really was. She was sitting on her bed, legs crossed as Kerry sat behind her, doing her hair for her. Kerry put two braids down the side of each side of her hair, before pulling it back into a ponytail. Her make-up had already been done with a small shadow around her eyes, as well as red lips to go along with her dress.

The girl herself was dressed in a black skirt over black pantyhose. A tan blouse that clung to her waist and flowed out around her. It clung to her figure on her top half above her black high waisted belt. And maybe tonight her nude colored spiked heels would make her come up to Donnie's chin!

"Thanks for helping me do my hair," Alex told her. "I can normally only do down styles."

"No problem, I don't have long hair so its fun to do this!" Kerry chirped a bit.

"And just in time too," Alex muttered, looking at her alarm clock. "The guys should be here any minute."

"Oh gosh how is my make up?!" Kerry asked as she rushed to look at her reflection.

"Wonderful, as always," Alex laughed, rolling her eyes. "Relax, You look find and Don will love it."

"I-It's just, for some reason getting together for the holiday, seems so," Kerry sighed. "intimate."

"We're all close, Kerry," Alex said, opening the door for her friend to go through first. Ale followed her out right after Kerry exited her bedroom. "We're just spending more time together, celebrating being together. It's not all that different except we're dressed up and giving presents."

"It's not just that," Kerry said. "I-" she bit her lip. "I've never done any of this for Christmas. Even when my mom was home when I was little, it was just us. We'd open presents have a nice dinner and that was it. No big fan fair or big parties."

"Oh, we _always _have people come over Christmas Eve. We make a roast and a turkey and a whole bunch of stuff. We exchange presents too, like with April, and sometimes Robyn if she's around. Though, my family exchanges our own tomorrow."

"See, never had that stuff." Kerry shrugged. "So all this seems intimate. I mean, I've always had the notion Christmas was supposed to be a magical time, full of love and joy but, I've never experienced it like that."

"Well, "Alex said, wrapping her arm around Kerry's shoulders. "You do now."

"Thanks." Kerry smiled, arm going around her waist. "I'm going to enjoy it."

"Of course you will," Alex laughed. "You're with us and the guys!" As if on command, there was a knock on the door and Alex looked at Kerry with a smirk. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear!"

Kerry smiled and dragged her along by the waist so that they could beat her brothers to the door.

Alex opened the door and smiled at the five Hamato's standing in the hallways. "Merry Christmas guys!" she exclaimed, moving to the side to let everybody in.

Master Splinter entered first, bowing politely to the two girls. "Thank you for graciously having us in your home," he told them. He said, putting his arms into the sleeves of the kimono he normally doned.

"You're welcome here anytime, Master Splinter," Alex told him, bowing politely. "Thank you for coming. Merry Christmas."

"It's only Christmas with the whole family." Kerry said and hugged him instead of bowing. She was always more forward. I fre

"My favorite girls!" Mikey chuckled, being the first in the door of course, hugging them both around the shoulders. He was dressed in a green shirt, with a goofy elf hat on over his curly blonde hair.

"Hi Mikey," Alex laughed, kissing him on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Mikester!" Kerry grinned kissing his other cheek, causing him to blush at the two girls and giggle like a little boy.

While the two girls were greeting Mikey, the triplets and Elliot walked over to the hallway and stood there, watching them as if they were animals at the zoo. "Isn't Alex dating one of the other ones?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, doesn't mean she can't be polite and greet the others," Nathan said, rolling his eyes and he hit the back if Zack's head.

"Merry Christmas, Alex, Kerry," Leo greeted, bowing his head politely. He wore a plain white button down dress shirt tucked into his black dress pants.

"You too Leo," Kerry chuckled and pulled him down her her height to kiss him on the cheek as well. "Loosen up okay?" she said patting his hand.

"She's right, it's a party!" Alex said, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. She let go and turned to Don, who walked in next and clad in a deep purple shirt with a deep red vest over the top. "Feliz Navidad!" she told the boy, hugging him and, again, kissing him on the cheek.

"Gracias, Alex. Y tu." Don grinned hugging her tight back. He pulled away and turned to look at Kerry. The girl blushed and held out her hands which he instantly took. "Merry Christmas, Kerry," he said with a dopey smile on his face.

"Merry Christmas, Donnie." Kerry grinned back leaning in to kiss his cheek at the same time he leaned in to kiss hers. "Oh!"

"Oh, uh sorry." Don said and tried again at the same time once more as Kerry, just switching angles. "Oh come on." he sighed.

"Uh, here let me." Kerry smiled shyly and moved first, kissing his cheek. He blushed and leaned down, kissing her opposite one.

"Thanks," He said sheepishly and released her hands to move in after his brothers.

"Oh he did _not _just…" Marcus grumbled.

"Get over yourself," Elliot told him, rolling his eyes. "Kerry never liked you anyway."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You know we can hear you, right?" Alex called to her brothers.

"Yup! Just testing your hearing, Buttmunch!" Ellie called out to her.

Alex rolled her eyes and turned to Raph, who was leaning against the doorframe. He wore a deep red button down dress shirt, left untucked from his black dress pants. His hands were deep in his pockets, as if growing potatoes.

She felt bad that Raph was going to have to pretend on Christmas Eve, but she didn't put much thought into it, seeing as he always insisted that it was fine. Plus, as of late, for her, their actions were just kind of natural. It was second nature to hold his hand, or kiss his cheek and whatnot. She didn't know if it was her feelings or if it was just habit.

Merry Christmas," she said softly, moving in. One hand went behind his head, into his hair, the other was placed against his chest as she pulled him down into a kiss on the lips. SHe moved her lips against his, making it look believable and savoring the cinnamon taste he left on her lips and in her mouth. Oh, it had been far too long since she had last kissed him like that. She moved from his lips and to his ear to whisper, "Parents think we're dating, remember," she reminded him, slightly breathless.

"I know, you just beat me too the punch," Raph murmured to her hugging her close. "Merry Christmas." He smiled honestly. He leaned in and kissed her again, making her smile and giggle softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. She had to stand up on her tiptoes slightly, even in the heels to reach properly.

"Okay, one kiss I could deal with," Elliot muttered, pulling on Alex's ponytail. "Two is too much."

"Ow, Dick, let go!" Alex said, being forced to walk backwards due to his pulling.

"Oi! I spent time on that hair do! Don't screw it up!" Kerry growled to him. She turned to Raph. "Merry Christmas, hotshot."

Raph smirked at her, bringing her in for a one armed hug that looked a bit more like a headlock. "You too, Hick."

"Elliot, darling, leave your sister alone," Ava, Alex's mother said walking in from the kitchen with her husband, Adam, as well as Aunt April. Aunt Roby was still in California, unable to pay for a plane or train ticket that year.

"But Mom!" Ellie groaned. "I don't want to see them sucking face."

"Yeah, I second that," Marcus muttered.

"Same," Nathan said.

"Me too," Zack added.

"You only say that because Essy hasn't answered your text!" Kerry scoffed at him.

"Shut up, Dubois!" Ellie grumbled. "And I didn't ask her on a date, per say. Just lunch to get to know one another."

"So you don't want to be her," Kerry cleared her throat, "_Superman_?" she quoted obviously having read some of his flirtatious texts while he left his phone unattended.

"Hey, I'm a master at winning people over. And she may just be the one!" Ellie told her.

"Oh, my baby's finally getting serious!" Ava clapped. "I'll have grandkids in no time. And not just from one child either. Right Alex?"

"_Mom_!" Alex and Elliot both groaned.

"Anywho! I believe introductions are in order," Ava said, turning to the group. "Please, call me Ava, not Mrs. O'Neil. It makes me feel so old. And this is my husband, Adam, though I suggest you call him Mr. O'Neil. He's rather grumpy when it comes to that."

"Ava," Adam warned.

"Oh dear, relax," Ava told him, kissing him on the cheek, patting his chest. "And this is April, Adam's youngest sister."

"Hello," April greeted with a warm smile. "It's nice to finally meet you all. I've heard so much about you from Alex and Kerry."

"I thought she'd be older," Mikey whispered not so quietly to Don and Raph. "She can't be that much older than Elliot."

"April's the coolest." Kerry smiled. "She owns this awesome shop with so many cool things!"

"The one you work at, right Alex?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Alex answered. "And she's only three years older than Elliot."

"She's hot!" Mikey whispered again.

"She can also hear you," April said with a laugh. "Thanks."

"Okay, so Mom, Dad, April," Alex said. "This is Hamato-sama, or Master Splinter and his sons Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo."

Alex had just managed to catch the look Elliot was giving to Master Splinter. He was studying with some sort of admiration, curiosity, as well as backing up slightly, keeping to the back of the group to try and stay the most out of sight. Alex didn't understand that. Normally he was the first to introduce himself and make himself known.

"It is an honor to meet the parents of such a fine young woman," Master Splinter bowed.

"Thank you," Adam said, bowing slightly.

"Oh, I have no idea how she got that way," Ava joked. "With how these boys are? I think somebody decided to give me a break!"

"_Mom_!" ALex groaned.

"Hey, I resent that!" Elliot protested.

"We're not that bad." Marcus said.

"We kind of are..." Zack admitted

"Zack, don't agree!" Elliot scolded with a smack.

"Why don't we move into the living room?" Ava suggested.

The group started to move in, but Alex grabbed Raph's arm and pulled him to the side and into the hallway where the bedrooms were. "Not you," she told him.

"Huh? Why not me?" Raph asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alex bit her lip and started to pull him down the hallway. "Because you get your present now."

"Really? I thought we were doing it all together." He said raising an eyebrow.

"Normally we do, but my gift's a little different than normal," Alex told him with a smirk. "Close your eyes."

"Ummm okay..." Raph said already suspicious.

"Okay, just keep them closed," Alex instructed, pulling Raph by his hands. She was walking backwards down the hallway, leading Raph to her bedroom where she had stored his present to make sure he wouldn't see.

"This is stupid," was Raph's response.

"How is it stupid?" Alex laughed, opening her door and pulling him in, her walking backwards still.

"Why can't I just open my eyes? I mean, I'll see it eventually. Why not close the door and then open it when I'm in front of it if you want it to be a surprise?"

"Patience is a virtue," she sang. She moved his hands in front of him and put them out flat, so she could put the gift in them. "And it's too small for that, so just humor me, Pumpkin, would you?"

"Fine," Raph sighed. "The things I do for you, woman!"

Alex rolled her eyes, but laughed. She leaned up and kissed his cheek in thanks. "Keep them closed," she told him. She turned away, facing her desk. She reached into the small portable container and pulled it out. She turned back to Raph and smiled softly.

"Hurry up! I wanna get back to the party. Who knows what Mikey is doing," Raph joked.

"Okay, so keep your hands sturdy, okay?" Alex instructed, gently placing the gift into his hands. "And open!"

"Oh god what are you doing to my hands?" Raph asked but obeyed, his green eyes opened and he stared down at the item in his hands. "A-Alex you-" he mumbled in shock.

"I talked to Master Splinter," she told him, rubbing the back of her neck. "After you told me you wanted a turtle, I figured there couldn't be a better present. So I talked to you dad. He thought it was a good idea, so I took back the other present and got you this little guy."

"Hey there little guy," Raph mumbled a bit lifting his hands high to look at the baby turtle. He moved him to one hand, using his free hand to stroke the shell with a single finger. "How ya doin'?" he asked him much more gentle than one would expect.

Alex's gaze softened as she saw him with the baby turtle. It was a side of Raph not many people go to see, and she was overjoyed that he was allowing her to see it, even if he didn't mean to. That as well as how happy he seemed to be with the little guy.

"So you like him?" she asked hopefully, biting her lip.

"He's the best present ever." Raph grinned, not taking his eyes off the turtle. "Aren't ya, little guy?" he snickered.

"What do you think you're going to name him?" Alex asked, moving to Raph's side. She place one hand on his arm, leaning in close to him to look at the adorable turtle as well.

"Spike. He seems like a Spike, don't you think?" Raph smiled a bit lowering his hand to she could look at him too.

"A tough name for a tough little guy," Alex agreed. "It fits him perfectly." She glanced up at Raph before moving away to go to her closet. She pulled out the tank she had also purchased filled with the other goods. She placed the tank on her bed and shut the closet. "I got you a portable tanks, as well as a good one for you house and some food for him, as well as some other stuff to go in the tank. But I figured we could just leave it in here until you head out."

"I-It's perfect, Alex. Thank you," Raph said, and sounded so sincere it was almost tear jerking. "He's going to be the newest addition to the family," he said and pulled her into a hug, holding the turtle away so he wasn't crushed.

Alex smiled, burying her face in his chest for a moment. She was so happy he felt that way. She knew he would like him, but she didn't know to what extent. "Anything for you," she told him. "Merry Christmas, Raph."

"Merry Christmas, Firecracker," Raph replied, kissing her on the top of the head. "You too, little man," he said to his new friend.

"Do you want to bring him out to the party, or leave him in here?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, he's family now but at the same time it might be a bit too much for the little guy," Raph mumbled.

"He's been living here with me and my family. That's hectic enough" Alex said, taking his free hand and leading him out of her room back to the living room. "My mom loves the little guy. I had the hardest time letting convincing her and reminding her that he was supposed to be a present for you."

"Alright." Raph smiled and let her go, cradling the turtle gently in his hands.

The two went to the living room and plopped down on the live seat. Raph put the turtle on his lap and Alex sat next to him, leaning against his side while Raph wrapped an arm around her shoulders, stroking the top of the turtle's head.

"So cute!" Kerry grinned from her spot on the couch with Don.

"Oh, I'm going to miss him," Ava cried. "You have to promise to bring him around to visit. And you must stay for dinner with us, Sweetheart. Alex talks about you all the time, so I know all about you, but I don't actually know you. She hogs you all to herself! We barely get to see her. And I know, you two are busy, which reminds me," she leaned in close, whispering," if you need more protection, let me know. I'm more than happy to get you some. Alex is already on birth control. "

"_Mom_!" Alex screamed, her face redder than her hair.

"My ears!" Elliot cries. "My precious ears. They bleed. I did _not _need to hear that! Not my baby sister!"

"U-Uh." Raph blinked at her.

"AHAHAHAH!" Kerry laughed holding her ribs a bit. "T-That's priceless."

"What the hell do you think we do in our spare time!" Alex gasped. "Not _that_!"

"Better not," her father grumbled.

"I swear, Dad, it isn't!" Alex exclaimed.

"P-Presents!" Elliot exclaimed. "Let's open presents!"

"Yes!" Alex agreed quickly. Anything for a change of subject. "Hamato boys get their presents first!"

"Oh oh! Can they open mine first?" Kerry asked the family.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Ava muttered, helping distribute the presents. Kerry squealed, obviously excited just like she had been for the birthday party she planned. She really did never get to do things like this so it was exciting.

"Okay Okay, so I say youngest to oldest." Kerry said. "That way Mikey doesn't have an aneurysm."

"Yes!" he exclaimed in excitement. He ripped open the paper, not bothering to save it. "Cool, a new skateboard! I can't wait to try it out at home."

"Not inside, Michelangelo," Master Splinter scolded.

He pouted but nodded his head. "Yes Sensei." He said thanks to Kerry who grinned at him.

"Next would be…" Ava trailed, not knowing who was next.

"Donnie." Kerry blushed a bit as she also took another smaller box from her bag on the table. "U-Uh this is another thing I wanted to give. B-But we can do that later. Go ahead and opened the bigger one." she mumbled.

Don nodded and blushed, slowly opening the package. He didn't tear the paper whatsoever. Once the item was out of the wrapping, he smiled, holding it out in front of him to study. It was a medical book. "This is so cool, Kery. Thank you!" He hugged her with one arm over her shoulders.

"Ah, no problem. I looked for an addition you didn;t have. Leo helped me snoop," Kerry murmured, blushing darkly under his arm.

"Raph's turn," Alex said, taking Spike from his so he could open his present. He picked up the red and white envelope and tore open the side, pulling out what was inside.

"$50 gift card to the bike shop on 26th? That place is awesome." He grinned. "Thanks, Hick."

"I try," Kerry sniffed pridefully.

"I suppose I'm next," Leo muttered. He took the package and opened the small box, pulling out several sticks of incense and smelling them. He smiled softly and said, "These smell great, Kerry. Thank you."

"My mom sent them from China for me." Kerry nodded. "Perks of a traveling mom, I guess."

"Master Splinter's turn?" Alex asked Kerry, handing the turtle back to Raph.

"Yes, be careful though, it's kind of fragile."Kerry warned the man.

Master Splinter, with gentle hands, unwrapped the present and pulled out a hand painted tea pot set. "This is beautifully crafted, Kerry. Thank you. I will use this for my tea before bed tonight."

"Thanks, I thought if any one would appreciate it you would." She smiled shyly.

"Okay, time for the presents I got you guys," Alex said, getting up from her spot next to Raph. She grabbed the presents and distributed them accordingly. "We'll go the other way this time," she said, sitting back down next to Raph, leaning against his arm.

Leo unwrapped his present and looked at the CD cases, reading the backs of them, smiling softly. "Meditation music. Thanks Alex."

"No problem, Leo," Alex said. "I'm glad you like them." SHe then turned to Raph and smirked. "You already got yours, Raphie Boy."

"And he's awesome." Raph smirked a bit.

Alex smiled even brighter, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. She eased back down and turned to Don. "Okay, Don. You're turn."

Don started to unwrap his present, but the moment he caught sight of what it was. Alex smirked. She had given him a beautiful black and white photo of Kerry, in a pretty frame. He gulped, cheeks red and set the present back down, completely covered so nobody else could see. "T-Thanks, Alex," he told her honestly. Kerry pouted when he hid it from her, not sure why he would hide it.

Alex winked at him. "Of course. I thought you'd like it."

"My turn!" Mikey yelled. He tore into the card and pulled out a GameStop gift card. "Cool. Now I can get that new game that's coming out next month! Thanks, Babycakes!"

"What have I told you about calling her that?" Raph growled.

"That it's a brilliant idea and I should do it more often?" Mikey asked.

"Oh relax," Alex told the redhead next to her, rubbing his arm to try and calm him down. "He doesn't mean anything by it," she said. "And it's not like I'm going anywhere, Pumpkin."

"Don't mean it's okay." Raph grumbled low in his chest but let it slide this time.

Alex rolled her eyes and looked to Master Splinter. "You're turn, Master. Hope you like it. It took a while to find it, but it was well worth the effort."

Splinter pulled a long scroll out of the decorative bag and unrolled it. It was a scroll of the family crest on it, as well as the boys names written in kanji around it. "This is beautiful as well, Alexandra, and extremely thoughtful."

Alex smiled softly at the older man. "I'm just glad you like it," she said. She turned to Kerry and clapped, "Kerry's turn!"

"What?" Kerry blinked, as if forgetting she was getting presents this time.

Alex laughed. "Kerry, it's Christmas. You have presents."

"Shut up," Kerry blushed. "I forgot."

Ava handed Kerry several present. "Have at it, Sweetheart," she told the girl.

"O-Oh, uhhh, which one should I open first?" Kerry asked tilting her head in a confused manner.

"Ours!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Alright alright." Kerry giggled as she picked up the flat gift and ripped off the paper. "Oh! New guitar picks and a sketch book! I've been running out of room! Thanks." She smiled at the boys, noticing each pick was one of their favorite colors. She then moved on to Elliot's present, which she already knew what it was due to him telling her earlier for the number.

"Hehe, Now I really can kick some serious butt." Kerry snickered. "Well worth giving out Essy's number!"

He got up from his seat and moved to Kerry. "Fair exchange, Dubois," Elliot said, kissing her forehead.

Kerry blushed slightly but she grinned at him. "I don't know, you might owe me if she is _the one._" She teased.

"You can be my best man," he told her.

"Hey!" the triplets yelled.

"Hey!" Alex added. "I want to be best man!"

"Kerry is the most manly of the bunch so it makes sense." Raph said as he pet Spike.

"Are you saying I'm not man enough, Pumpkin?" she asked, pretending to be offended.

"Hey!" Kerry pouted at both the insult and everyone trying to steal her position.

"Not as much as the Hick, sorry." Raph smirked, kissing Alex's head.

"Whatever," Alex laughed lightly. "Open mine next," Alex told Kerry.

"Okay, it's the white and gold one, yeah?" Kerry said picking it up. She lightly tore at the paper and let it flutter into her lap. When she saw the picture seated in the frame her face basically exploded into a blush. "A-Alex!" She stared at the picture of her and Don laughing and holding hands at his lab station during a chat, before she hid it from prying eyes.

"What?" Alex laughed. "Don't you like it?"

"N-No I do." Kerry mumbled as she clutched the frame to her chest. "I-I really do."

Alex laughed. "I thought so," she said. Kerry's fingers blushed something taped to the back of the white picture frame and turned it over seeing a key resting there, a little cartoon fox painted on it.

"What's this?" Kerry asked prying it off and lifting it up.

"It's a key to the apartment, Sweetheart," Ava told her.

"W-Why would this be on there?" Kerry asked shyly tilting her head once more. For such a 'bad girl' she could be so innocent.

"Come on, Dubois, you're smarter than that," Ellie told her. "What do you think it's for?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude or anything." Kerry said green eyes shifting down.

"It's not intruding if you have a key," Alex said.

"But, why give it to me?" Kerry asked, of course not getting it due to not having any extended family or anything before now.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Alex sighed. "How many times have I told you that you're part of the family, Kerry?"

"365 times," Kerry joked a bit, smiling sadly, though there was happiness behind it. "Thanks, Alex. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil." Kerry said and clutched the key tightly in her hand.

"Of course, Dear," Ava said. "Boys, your turn."

The triplets were given gift cards from Kerry, as well as from the guys. Elliot was given woven Indian blanket from Kerry. Alex, though they wouldn't get them until tomorrow, had gotten Marcus a gift card to his favorite sushi place, Nathan Cornell apparel since he would be attending there next year, a new snowboard for Zack and the rest of the season tickets for the Rangers for was the same case with her parents. Alex had gotten them a couple retreat week.

"Hey, Dorkfish." Kerry said to her. "I had to open mine now. It's your turn."

Alex unwrapped the small box and pulled out a leather bracelet, no doubt made by Kerry. "Oh, I love it, Kerry. Thank you! It matches the one Raph made me," she said, grasping the necklace that was around her neck.

"No problem," Kerry smirked slightly. "That was the point. Though I almost burned my living room curtains with the burning tool."

"Way to go, Dubois," Elliot teased.

"I didn't though." Kerry pointed out.

Alex moved on to the present from the Hamatos. She opened the box and pulled out an antique looking fighting fan. She opened it, studying the image of the dragon dancing across the metal. "Wow," she muttered, tracing her fingers over it. "This is incredible. Thank you so much, guys."

Kerry smiled and set her presents on the ground, patting Don on the knee as she got up and left the room for a moment. When she came back as held onto what seemed to be a canvas of some sort. "U-Um Mrs. and Mr. O'Neil?" she said quietly.

"Yes, Dear? What is it?" Ava asked.

"Uh, I got you two something as well," Kerry said. "I painted it during some free time and I thought you'd like something like it," she said and set it down to where they could see it. It looked to be a rather realistic garden scene, but instead of normal colors it had been painted entirely in a range of white to gold, shimmering slightly in the light. A black envelope sat at the bottom corner of it, and the girl seemed determined to to acknowledge it, her russet cheeks a bright red.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Dear!" Ava exclaimed, kissing the girl on the cheek. "I know exactly where to ha- what is this?" Ava asked, taking the envelope.

"That's nothing." Kerry said quickly, looking down, hand clenched tightly together. "Don't worry about it," she murmured, heading back to her seat.

Ava opened the envelope and started to read the letter to herself. _I've never meet two people more loving and accepting than you. I would have been lost in this big city, fading among the many faces, if you hadn't pulled me from the rut, dusted me off, and made me worth something. You took a rotten garden, and made it beautiful and alive once more_.

"Oh, Honey," she sighed, smiling softly at the teenager. She kissed the girl on the head and hugged her. "Thank you so much."

Kerry bit her lip, blinking quickly to hide the tears that teared to well up, as she hugged the woman back. "S'no problem." Kerry mumbled quickly and quietly, as if embarrassed at her words being written down, so exposed. She moved quickly to her safe area under Donatello's arm, but as she did her phone started buzzing and soon the sound of a skype call started up. She made a confused noise as she picked it up.

"I-It's my mom." Kerry gaped at the ID appearing on her phone. "I-I thought she said she'd be deep in the badlands and wouldn't be able to call. Do you guys mind?" She asked everyone hurriedly, desperate to connect with the woman who gave birth to her.

"I get to meet your mom finally? Cool!" Alex said, moving behind the couch that Kerry and Don were sitting on. Kerry quickly answered the call, and after some buffering a blurry image appeared. And there sat a woman who looked almost nothing like Kerry, aside from the dark green eyes staring at them from the tiny screen. Her skin was fair, but scattered with freckles from her days out on digs and expeditions, her blond hair was pulled back into a long braid, over her strong looking shoulder. From the way things looked around her it seemed she was in a tent of some sort.

"Kerry? Can you hear me, sweetpea?" Miss Medina asked, sounding nothing like a woman from the south would normally sound, other than a few mannerisms.

"Y-Yeah, yeah Momma!" Kerry said, just about beaming brightly. "Yeah I can hear you just fine! Merry Christmas!"

"That's a relief, it took me forever to get this link patched up. Merry Christmas!"The woman said, a crooked smile in place. So maybe she gave Kerry more than her eyes. "Who is that around you?"

"Hi, Miss Medina," Alex said, leaning in. "I'm Alex."

"She's my best friend." Kerry said excitedly. "The one I told you about. And this is Donnie!" Kerry grinned brightly taking the boys hand.

"Hello, Ma'am," Don said shyly.

"Oh, hello dears." Dawn said slowly. "I've heard so much about ya'll both from Kerry from our little chats." She smiled crookedly again. "I hope she isn't causing too much trouble for you and your folks."

"Momma," Kerry grumbled. "Five minutes and you already speak about me as if I'm a hoodlum." she rolled her eyes.

"Kerry's great," Alex told the girl's mother. "She's always willing to help and she's working her ass off in school and at work."

"Good, I didn't raise a slacker," Dawn said seriously. "Kerry, keep those grades up. And are you...feeling better now?" she asked oddly, as if this were awkward for her.

"Fine!" Kerry said quickly. "I'm feeling just fine, Momma. No problems, and I promise to study hard." Kerry gripped Don's hand tightly, obviously treading into a conversation she didn't want to have.

"That's good dear, I want you healthy." Dawn smiled a bit bigger this time, honest on her face. "Your a Medina! We got tough skin, especially Medina women." There was buzzing and the image started to deteriorate. "Oh, I got to go sweetpea. Looks like my signals goin'! Merry Christmas hon, I'll be home in-" but before she could say more the call went dead. Kerry didn't say anything, just staring at her phone in silence. Slowly she lowered her phone into her lap.

"...bye Momma," Kerry murmured quietly with a sigh.

"She seems," Don started to say, "pleasant?"

"Plesant? She seems totally overbearing!" Mikey mumbled only to be kicked in the head by Raph for his lack of subtlety.

"At least she's concerned," Alex said, though she was thinking, _She's barely raised Kerry._ She moved back to her seat next to Raph, laying her head against his shoulder. _I never realized how luck I am to have my parents,_ she thought. I lucked out.

"My mom's pretty cool," Kerry said changing the topic from her mother's concern. "She always has cool stuff and stories when she comes home. And she said after I turn 18 she'll see if she can take me with her on her trip to Spain."

"Cool," Alex said with a smiled, though she wouldn't have been surprised if that fell through, just like how her mother said she has going to be there for Thanksgiving, but then canceled the weekend before. But she couldn't say that to Kerry, not when she had a slight spark of hope in her eye.

* * *

The party lasted just until after 10:00 before it was decided to head home.

"I'll grab our coats," Don said, a everybody helped gather everything up to leave.

"Oh, um let me help." Kerry said and slipped something out of her purse. She got up and followed after him. "I-It's uh, a lot of coats."

"Thanks," he told her, smiling softly at how willing she was to help.

"No problem, Don." Kerry said and followed after him shyly.

The two headed out of the living room and down the hallway towards the closet by the door, going unnoticed by pretty much everybody else as they packed up.

"Oh, do you want to help me get the rest of your stuff from my room?" Alex asked Raph, getting up off the couch.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that stuff." Raph smiled and got up with her, arm slung around her shoulder in a relaxed manner. Alex lead him out of the living room, her arm wrapped around his waist as they walked. They were just about to pass the front door, but Alex noticed how fidgety Kerry was with Don, so she pulled Raph to a stop and leaned against the wall, peering

"Alex? What are we-"

"Shh," she hushed him.

"..You do remember what happened the last time you shushed me right? It did not end well for you." Raph grumbled.

Alex blushed lightly, but simply rolled her eyes. "If you want to touch my ass, just tell me," she said with a smirk. "I'm sure we could work something out," she teased.

"Oh haha, now what are we doing?" Raph grumbled to her.

"Shh," she hushed again. "I think Kerry and Don are going to make out in the closet."

"Oh what ever! There is no way Don has the balls to-"

"Sh!" she hushed, kissing him to shut him up before turning back to listen and watch.

"H-hey Donnie," Kerry said as he worked on getting the coats down. She held a small package behind her back.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to Kerry when she spoke. "What's up?"

"I have another present, remember?" Kerry murmured taking another step closer to him. "Well, more like I finally got the last pieces of the last present I got you," she said eyeing the necklace resting around his neck.

"O-Oh," he muttered. "R-Really? You didn't have to go to the trouble. I love it the way it is."

"I-I know, but I'm an artist! You know us, never really happy with our work." She joked nervously. "Besides, without one of these pieces the protective charm won't work...or so they say."

"Thank you, Kerry," he told her, blushing and he pulled her into a tight hug. "Now I love it even more."

"Y-You don't even know what it is." Kerry joked a bit stepping closer. She took out what seemed like little tools. "U-Uh I'm Going to have to invade your bubble for a second," Kerry said and peaked at him.

"D-Doesn't matter," he told her. "I'd love anything you'd give me."

"Thanks." Kerry smiled softly and began working pulling at strings and reattaching a bear claw of sorts. As she worked at the opening of the pouch next, it was obvious how close she was, her breath fanning across his neck as she focused on her work, body dangerously close to being pressed against his. Finally opening up the top she pulled a small...computer chip from her pocket. She smiled sheepishly. "Seemed appropriate that this is the _man made _object in your charm," she joked as she slipped it in with the herbs. She sowed the opening back up. "There." She said placing her hands on his chest. "Finished" she said peeking up at him.

"Thank you," he muttered, staring into her eyes, still feeling as warm as he had when he had felt her breath on his neck. He glanced down at her lips and then blinked, clearing his throat. He moved back and rubbed his neck, face as red as his brother's hair. "I guess this is the p-perfect time to give you the other present I have for you."

"O-Oh Don you really didn't have to do that. I know I did but really it was just part of your other present-" She started to rant nervously.

"I wanted to," he interrupted her, handing her the box from his coat pocket.

Kerry smiled a bit at him and took it. She slowly opened the lid, gasping as she saw what was inside. "I-Is this what I think it is? Did you make me a-a music box?" she asked gaping at him as she saw the twist spring on the side.

Don shrugged, looking down at the hard wood floor. "I thought you'd appreciate a handmade gift more than something store bought," he admitted. "And it just seemed like the perfect thing. I-If you don't like it, I can get you something else. It's no pr-"

"Donatello Hamato," she interrupted sternly. She wound up the spring and opened it to hear the soft melody flow from the box, the tiny fox inside spinning around as if in a dance. "This is the most beautiful thing someone has ever given me. I am seriously about to cry. So don't you dare think I don't like it." She sniffed as she looked at it and back at him.

"P-Please don't cry," he begged, taking her face in his hands in case he needed to wipe her eyes. "But I'm glad you like it. I thought you would."

"And I do, I don't like it, I love it." Kerry sniffed, blushing as her held her face gently, resting her forehead against his.

"It makes me so happy to hear that," he murmured, eyes closing for several seconds as he took in the moment, feeling her breath on his face and the feeling of her skin against his. He rubbed her cheek gently with his thumb. "Y-You make me happy, Kerry," he admitted shyly.

Kerry gave a shuddering breath, blushing the music box as it played in her hands. A tear slipped down her cheek to meet his hand. "Your one of the best things to ever happen to me," she said lowly, her nose rubbing against his in a slow eskimo kiss.

_Kiss him, _Alex thought, taking Raph's hand and squeezing it tightly from how anxious she was at watching the two. _Just kiss him. You're right there! It's the perfect moment! Just so it!_

"Come on bro, you got her eating out of the palm of your hand!" Raph whispered to himself, squeezing her hand back.

Kerry and Don leaned in closer, eyes slipping shut once more as they went for it in a daze of emotions, but when their lips were mere centimeters frosm each other a bang sounded from the other room. Thier Ninja reflexes caused them to snap from their daze and break apart.

_No! _Alex screamed in her mind. She scowled, pulling Raph with her down the hallway towards her room. Once inside she turned to him and said, "They were _so close!_ Uh, I'm going to _kill _whoever made that noise!"

"I think it was Elliot. He was kind of smirking while we made our way here," Raph grumbled a bit.

"Oh, I am _so _getting him back for that," she muttered, beginning the portable container to Raph from her desk. And she had just the idea on how to do it too. "Here you go, little guy," she said, holding it while Raph put the turtle inside. Raph gently placed Spike on his rock.

"Hey, since they were exchanging secret presents, I guess I should do the same," Raph said as he set the tank down.

"Secret pre...Oh, you didn't," she sighed, feeling guilty that he had gotten her something else, when she hadn't gotten him anything else.

"Oh I did, and before you freak out it is totally justified!" Raph said. "You got me a turtle! No complaints aloud," he said as he pulled a badly wrapped present from his pocket.

Alex took the small, oddly shaped present and opened it. Inside was a small dagger. It was small enough to conceal just about anywhere. On the handle of the dagger was a hawk, flying with spread wings. "This is beautiful, Raph," Alex said, looking back up at him. "Thank you. Now I feel bad for not getting you something else."

"I said no complaints!" Raph grumbled. "I wanted to get you this, so I did. Just accept it, God!" he grumbled looking away with a blush.

"I love it," she told him, placing a hand on his cheek to make him look at her. "Really, thank you, Raphael." She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss to his lips, in an attempt at showing him how thankful she was for the present. Raph sighed a bit through his nose and kissed her back gently.

"I'm glad, I love my present," he said as he pulled back after a few minutes. "Merry Christmas, Alex."

"Merry Christmas, Raph," she told him, leaning in again, this time, putting one of her hand behind his head, in his hair to keep him there. She figured there may not have been mistletoe, but it was one way of saying Merry Christmas in their weird best friend-fake dating relationship.

Raph groaned at the feeling of her running her fingers through his hair. He set the case with the turtle it in on the desk without pulling away from her before placing on hand on her waist and the other pulling her hair out of the ponytail and braid. He pushed his tongue past her lips and into her mouth, meeting her's.

Alex moaned softly as she fought for dominance. He backed her up, pushing her up against the desk as the hand that was at her waist went to her face. The one in her hand remained the, gripping it softly, but firm. She slid onto the desk, sitting on an essay she had been working on for school the day before.

Alex used her legs and hooked them behind Raph's knees, pulling him closer. He moved in, taking the space between her legs and leaned in closer, one of his hands going down to the bare skin of her leg. He ran it up and down slightly as he massaged it gently.

The female redhead moaned once more. She moved her hands to the front of his shirt, grabbing onto it tightly, pulling him closer as she leaned backwards, as if she was going to lay down.

"Oh my God! My eyes!"

Alex and Raph pulled out of the kiss, looking over to the door, their faces completely flushed from the heated kiss. Elliot fell to the ground, covering his eyes. She raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes.

"They burn! No, not my sister! She's not allowed to kiss," he tried quieter.

"Oh, get over yourself," Alex muttered, pushing past Raph and getting off the desk. "I'm seventeen, not seven." She pulled him up from the floor and straightened out his shirt.

"No, never!" he cried, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Can't breath!"

"No more kissing!" he begged.

"Let go!"

"No, not until you promise."

"Jerk."

"Please, Munchmallow?"

"Payback's a bitch!"

"Munchkin, don't be like that!"

"I'm going to hurt you!"

"You're a Buttmunch, you know that?"

"And you're a Dick, you know that?"


	31. Party Prep

Chapter 31

Party Prep

"_Kelly won't lidd my friend Cassandra. Jessica won't play ball. Mandy won't share her friend Miranda, doesn't anybody live at all?"_

Alex rolled her green eyes at the song that echoed throughout the apartment over the speakers of her iHome that her iPod was hooked up to. She had a hand through her hair once more time as he hot shower water beat down over her. _There is no way I'd do that,_ Alex thought, turning off the water. She run out her hair with her hands. _Even if my boyfriend thought it was hot. Raph would be out of luck there. _She froze in mid react of the shower curtain. _He's not your boyfriend, Alex. We're faking it, remember. _

"_Amanda won't leave me empty handed. Got her number from a bathroom stall. Brandy just got way too much baggage and that shitjust gets old."_

Alex stepped out of the shower, her bare feet stepping out onto a towel she had placed on the tiled floor to catch the dripping water from her body and hair. She reached out and grabbed the towel on the counter and wrapped it around her frame before moving on to brush her teeth.

"_But I got a girl who can put on a show. The dollar decides how far you go." _

The redhead spat in the sink before rinsing her mouth out. Mouthwash was next, followed by brushing and blow drying her long red hair. Alex nodded her head to the beat of the music, flipping her hair every once in a while as she danced and dried her hair.

"_She wraps those hands around that pole. She licks those lips and off we go. She takes i off nice and slow because that's pornstar dancing!"_

The girl ran the towel over her one last time, making sure she was dry before slipping into her matching black laced bra and underwear. She had just about been ready to slip into her black laced dress when a knock came at the bathroom door. She blinked, staring at it in confusion for a moment as she recalled nobody else was home. Then, however, she remembered telling Raph, who was picking he up for the party that evening, to just let himself into the apartment. She slid on her bathrobe before opening the door.

"_She don't play nice, she makes me beg. She drops that dress around her legs. And I'm sitting right by the stage for this pornstar dancing."_

Raph smirked down at the girl. He was leaning against the wall across from the bathroom, handing dug deeply into his pockets. he looked very nice in his black pant and black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing the black leather bracelet Alex had gotten him for his birthday secured around his wrist.

"_Your body listens up the room. I want a naughty girl like you. Let's throw a party just for two. You know those normal girls won't do." _

"You holding out on me, Firecracker?" he asked, signature flirty smirk in place.

Alex rolled her eyes, but surprisingly didn't blush. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned up against the doorframe. In doing so with her arm, she pulled the robe up ever so slightly to catch Raph's eyes. He glanced down at her bare legs and gulped, Alex smirked at that.

"It's not like you'd know if I were," she teased. "You'd never see."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm positive," she answered, nodding her head. "Now, can I finish getting ready or do you want to be late?"

Raph rolled his eyes and huffed. "Girls," he said, turning and making his way to the living room.

Alex rolled her eyes and went back inside the bathroom to finish getting ready. She slipped into her dress rather quickly and put on a little makeup. Her made her lips a deep red, while she gave her eyes a slightly smoky look. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment before she smirked and nodded her head. She left the bathroom, black heels in her hands.

She went to the living room to see Raph sitting on the couch, feet up on the coffee table. "Everybody else on their way to the party?" Alex asked, putting her leg and foot up on the table to fasten the clasp on the shoe. "Raph?" she asked, when she didn't get an answer. She did the same with the other one. She glanced up at Raph to see that his eyes were staring at her legs as she clasped the other shoe.

Alex bit her lip and smirked, rather pleased that she had that effect on him. She moved her leg back down and bopped him on he head, as if telling him he could have had a V8. She then turned and made her way to the kitchen. "Hey, could you do me a favor?" she called out to him as she pulled her tray of cookies out of the refrigerator.

Raph cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck with a slight blush on his cheeks as he entered the kitchen. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Could you go grab my black coat out of my closet?" she asked. "I've gotta put these on another plate."

"Yeah, sure," he said. Raph turned and made his way down the hallway to the girl's room.

Alex transferred all of the cookies to a more decorative place and then wrapped them up for safe transport. She huffed, glancing down the hallway in the direction of her room. She rolled her eyes and made her way over as she said, "Okay, it's not that hard to grab a coat! It's the only black one I ha-"

Alex froze in her doorway, eyes catching site of Raph, who was frozen in place. He was staring down at a large box in his hands, one that Alex always kept closed and pushed into the back of her closet unless she was in use of anything in it. Which, had actually been the night before, but that was beside the point. She apparently hadn't pushed it back far enough after having put the item she had been using away.

It was the box of accumulated "_toys_" that Emily had always insisted on buying her.

Reacting quickly, Alex stared down at th floor as she took the box, shoved it into the back of her closet, grabbed her coat and slammed the door shut. She couldn't avoid looking up into Raph's eyes, which looked rather hooded and glazed as he stared back at her, face incredibly red.

"Damn," he muttered.

"E-Emily b-believed that, uh, when I was s-single that I was a, uh, little too uptight so she kept buying them and, and, and," she rambled, hiding her face in her hands. "Oh God. Uh, I'm sorry. I should have just grabbed my coat on my own. Shit, I'm sorry."

"F-Fuck Alex," Raph grumbled. "Do you really think I can go to the party right now?" he hissed a bit.

_Well, I guess it's nice to know those have the same effect on him as the lingerie,_ she thought. _Not that I ever wanted him to know about those! Now I just have to make sure he doesn't know I actually use them._ Alex's hands moved to her hair, slightly pulling at it, as if she wanted to make herself hurt a little bit to try and feel less embarrassed. "Y-You weren't supposed to see those!" she exclaimed, turning her back to him, pacing.

"They were just sitting in the bottom of the closet," Raph argued. "How was I not supposed to see them?!" he demanded.

"They're not normally that far out, okay?" she said, turning back around, arms wrapping around herself. embarrassed frustrated tears were welling up in her eyes, threatening to mess up her makeup. "I forgot to move them back further after I-" _SHIT._

"P-Please don't finish that sentence," Raph begged her, biting his lip. "I-I-I don't need that right now."

"I didn't mean to say that either!" Alex cried, moving past him and to the window seat by the fire escape. "Why does this always have to happen to me? I mean, uh! Don't I get embarrassed in front of you enough?"

"I-It's fine, Alex," Raph said running a hand through his hair as he too began to pace a bit. "I-I mean it's none of my business what you do when you- I mean I..Well, I uh, I'm a guy so I get it that you have...uh I uh." Raph tried to comfort her but couldn't get the right words out without sounding like a creep.

Alex glanced up, watching him pace. She bit her lip and a soft smile came to her face. _He's trying to make me feel better,_ she thought. _He's incredibly uncomfortable and wants nothing more than a cold shower, but he's right here trying to make me feel better. That's so sweet. _

"Raph?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Thanks," she muttered. "Uh, do you want to go to the party a little late? You're welcome to a shower before we go. So, you know…"

"Yeah, yeah that would be for the best," Raph murmured.

Alex nodded her head and stood up, walking out of the room and to the hallways closet. She said, "I'll get you a towel." She reached up and grabbed one of the towels and turned back, handing it to Raph. "I'm really sorry about this, Raph. Really. I never meant for you to be uncomfortable."

"It's fine," he said softly. "Better me than someone else, right?" asked halfheartedly.

Alex nodded her head, biting her lip and she looked down to the hardwood floor. "Why does it always have to be us?" she muttered. "I mean, why do _you _always have to find out all of _my _embarrassing stuff?"

"Maybe you just aren't looking hard enough," he joked a bit before heading to the door.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, following behind him, though having no intention to follow him into the bathroom.

"There are a lot of embarrassing things that happen around you that you take no notice in, you know." He scoffed a bit and went into the bathroom.

He shut the door and Alex stood there a moment. She groaned, feeling as if she now needed the shower. She let her head fall forward, hitting it off the door. "You can't leave me hanging like that!" she yelled before turning around and heading to the living room. "I need to watch TV," she told herself. "Hockey will hopefully get me out of the mood. Just don't think about Raph being in the shower….Fuck."

* * *

Alex was yelling at the hockey game she was playing on DVR while Raph finally walked out of the shower, rubbing the towel to his hair. Alex looked over and smirked, realizing that he didn't have any hair gel to spike his hair, so he was forced to wear it down, which she loved.

"Do your brothers have any hair gel I could use?" he asked, plopping down onto the couch next to her.

"Yes," she answered, shifting so that she was facing him more, her feet tucked up under her with her heels still on. She had no intention of having him use it though.

"Well?" he asked holding out his hand as if expecting her to move.

"I didn't say you could use it," she laughed.

"May I _please_ use it?" Raph sighed.

"No," she said firmly.

"Why not?!" He growled.

"Not my hair gel," she told him. "Plus, I like it when your hair is like this. You know that."

"Alex, I am not going to the party like this. I'm sure your brother won't mind," Raph grumbled.

"Oh, come on!" Alex whined. "Please? It's looks good!"

"No, it doesn't!" Raph argued. "Come on, Firecracker!"

"No, Raphie," she said firmly, turning her back to him.

"Fine then." Raph huffed as he sat down on the loveseat. "We're aren't going then."

Alex's head shot in his direction. "What? Oh, don't be a sore loser!"

"No. I don't like wearing my hair like this." Raph grumbled.

"You are such a girl," Alex huffed, rolling her eyes. She got up and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him up. "Come on! I got all dressed up for the party! All that effort is not going to go to waste! Get up off your ass. We're going!"

"No! Get me the hair gel or I'm staying put!" Raph growled, leaning back against the chair so she couldn't lift him.

Alex pouted, sitting on the armrest of the love seat, pulling her legs up onto the cushion in full view for him. Fine, if he was going to be that way, she was going to play dirty. "_Please_?" she begged, leaning forward and putting her lip out cutely.

"Alex, no," Raph grumbled looking away and closing his eyes. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Do it for me?" she begged, moving down into the seat. "If you do it, I'll let you call me Babe all night."

"No, and that's final," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Fine!" Alex yelled, getting up off the loveseat. "You can stay here then!" She turned and started to talk to the door. "I'm going to the party!"

"A-Alex, wait! You can't go alone, it's dark out!"Raph said worry overcoming his vanity. "Stay here with me."

Alex bit her lip as she put her coat on. _Oh, don't do that! _she thought. _Don't sound all worried and guilt me._ "No," she told him. She pulled her hair out from her coat and buttoned it. "I'm going to the party. I told everybody I was. And I'm not a liar. I"m going to that party with or without _you_." She turned to look at him and said, "You can stay here and mope over your stupid hair."

"Alex wait," he said again and got up to follow her. "You really know how to push my buttons," he growled a bit as he grabbed his helmet.

"Well, I can say the same to you," she muttered, waiting for him.

"Tch, so annoying," he sighed and took her arm so they could head down.

Alex giggled in triumph. "If it makes you feel any better, you can still call me Babe," she said. They made it to his bike and he got on. "Oh shit," Alex groaned.

"What is it now?" he groaned.

"Well, uh," she muttered, looking at the bike. "If you haven't noticed, I'm kinda wearing a really short dress. Bikes and dresses don't mix."

"Dang it, you knew I was picking you up." He sighed. "Just get on, no one will see you."

"You obviously have never been in a dress like this," she grumbled, still planted in her spot. "The second I get on that thing this dress with go up to my waist, Idiot."

"Do I look like I'd complain?" Raph smirked at her.

Alex smacked the back of his helmet. "Did you ever think that _other _people would see," she said.

"Hmm point." Raph sighed. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"Do you have an extra jacket?" she asked.

"Uh yeah in the side pack," he said bending over and getting it. He handed it to Alex.

Alex wrapped the coat around her bottom half, making sure it was secure before getting on the bike. "There," she said happily, wrapping her arms around Raph. "Thanks, Raphie."

"No problem," he said and revved up the engine before starting off.

"And just for the record," Alex yelled as they went. "I think your hair is sexy when it's like this!"

"Shut up!" Raph yelled back at her.

Alex just laughed and held on tighter.

* * *

Kerry grumbled as she pulled her jacket closer around her. Where the freakin hell where her friends? She pulled out her phone and texted both the guys and Alex hoping to get some sort of answer. She was there, stuck with basically the entire school plus some and had no one to talk to. Phoebe and Rudy were nice enough but they were obviously more interested in 'talking' to eachother. Emily and and Kiley were off being hostesses for their party, not to mention the young woman had enough of Emily's comments for the time being. Fred was...Fred. So that option wasn't working. She basically spent the entire time running away from Amanda and everyone else in that group.

The girl sighed as she ran a hand through her short dark hair, regretting coming in the first place and it had only been 20 minutes. Why was she even here? Alex and the guys are really the only ones she had fun with easily, not that there was anything wrong with the others it's just that they didn't really get her like the boys did.

Hands suddenly touched her shoulders and Kerry went into a panic, assuming it was one of her tormentors again she whirled around before they could shove her off the balcony. She lashed out only to have her wrists grabbed and arms crossed over her chest. The body of her attacker pressed forward, pinning her against the railway.

"Kerry, it's me!" A familiar voice said, causing the girl to actually take notice of who it was.

"Don?" Kerry blinked blushing darkly when she realized it was him, and it only darked when she realized the position they were in as well. Bodies pressed up against each other, feeling every inch. "I-I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Don murmured as he stepped away, taking the warmth he had briefly provided with him. God it was freaking cold out there. "S-Sorry for, uh, pinning you but I've seen you in a fight." He chuckled rubbing the back of his neck. "You can be scary."

"Gee thanks Don, you're a real flatterer." Kerry chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Where the heck have you guys been?" she sighed now reaching out and giving him a hug. "I've been waiting forever! Where are your brothers?"

"Sorry," Don said, rolling his eyes as he looked over his shoulder. "Mikey couldn't figure out what to wear. You know, because of Emily?"

"Right, his puppy crush." Kerry laughed a bit. "Where is he by the way? And Leo and Raph?"

"Well, Mikey's inside at the food table talking to Emily," Don explained. "Leo's off somewhere in there. And Raph went to go get Alex."

"That explains why they're not here." Kerry said rolling her green eyes. "They're late." she sighed a bit. "I thought you guys ditched me for a second."

"We'd never do that, Kerry," Don assured her, placing a hand on her arm. "Geeze, Kerry. You're freezing. Here," he said, shrugging off his jacket. "T-Take my coat."

"A-Ah oh yeah. I'm not used to New York weather yet," Kerry said her fingers feeling numb. "Oh! Don no it's okay!" she blushed as he shrugged off his coat for her.

"You could have looked at the weather," he teased, draping the coat over her shoulders despite her protest with a small blush. "It's almost always in the single digits this time of year."

"In Texas the news means nothing. It changes with the hour," Kerry said blushing as his scent washed over her along with the warmth of his jacket. She smiled when her eyes trailed down to his chest, seeing her birthday present to him resting on top of his button up. "So I never trust it." she said as she touched the gift in thought.

"Well, it's relatively reliable here," he told her, leaning against the railing. "As reliable as it can be, I guess."

"Oh you mean as reliable as my friends showing up to a party on time?" She teased him with a grin.

Don looked down slightly, feeling bad about that, but he knew she was joking and smirked. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he laughed. "So, what are you doing out here?"

"U-Uh no reason." Kerry lied crossing her arms a bit, not wanting to see her being a coward again like at the club, just taking Amanda's lashing.

Don could see her closing off. He studied her for a moment before concluding that she wasn't being completely honest with him. "Kerry?" he asked. "You know you can tell me, right?"

"I," Kerry started to lie again but when she actually met his eyes she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted to tell him everything in that moment, things she didn't even tell Alex. Things she never planned on ever passing her lips "I-I'm running away from Amanda and her goons again. And a few other classmates." She told him looking down and away from him.

Don gulped, his lips pierced. "Y-You mean she's still bothering you?" His hands tightened around the railing, turning his knuckles white.

"Not as bad as before," Kerry said. "Not as actively, you know. I-It was never really just her anyway. I appreciate what Alex did for me, I really do. But there are things that will never stop for me, I've learned that I just have to deal with it."

"You shouldn't have to learn to deal with any of it, but we can't help you if you don't tell us, Kerry," he said. "And we want to help you. Or try, at least. We _want _to. " He gulped, looking away for a moment before looking back at her with honest, nervous eyes, "_I _want to help."

Kerry froze for a second eyes wide as she looked back at him. She bit her lip slightly, taking a shuddering breath. She hesitantly reached out to place her hand on top of his. "I appreciate you, Donnie, all of you for that." She promised him. "And I'm trying to be a more honest person but, I-I, there are things," Kerry said chickening out from telling him. "Things in my past that make it hard for me, make it hard for me to believe I can even really be saved. But I'm trying. With Alex, her family, your family, and..and you. I'm trying for you." Kerry blushed and gave his hand a squeeze.

Don turned his hand so he could interlock their fingers. He squeezed her hand back, making sure she knew he was there. There were so many questions running through his head, so many things he had to ask, had to know, but he refrained from doing so. There was a time and a place for everything, but now wasn't any of that, but it was still a stepping stone.

"And we'll always be here," he said. "We'll always be here, making sure you try. Because we want you to. We want you to be able to trust us. I want you to trust me. And I-I'd wait forever for that."

Kerry looked down at their hands as he talked, slowly starting to rub circles in the back of his hand with her thumb. She looked up at him and couldn't help but smile at him. "Forever is quite a long time you know, you might get tired of waiting." She said drifting closer to him. "What if some beautiful assistant comes along to distract you?" she laughed.

Don, not knowing he was doing so, had moved a little closer to Kerry. His voice was low and soft, his warm breath hitting her face as he said, "I think she already has."

Kerry blushed at him, leaning in close instinctively so their foreheads touched. "Gee, should I be jealous of someone, Donnie?

Don shook his head just slightly, so his nose brushed up against her's. His brown eyes never leaving her green ones. "Never," he whispered.

Kerry grinned, at that moment she was so tempted to just kiss him right there, throwing all her insecurities to the wind and giving into him. He thought she was the tempress? Please does he know how long she's been dreaming about just kissing him? She leaned in, lips inches from his but at the last minute she gained her senses in a moment of fear. She diverted her course and kissed his cheek, though it was dangerously close to his lips.

Don breathed through his nose, free hand creeping up to rest against the side of her neck, a blush obvious on his face. His nose once against brushed along hers.

"Thanks Don," she said barely pulling back to look into his eyes. She was so close, if he leaned it they'd be kissing.

"Anything for you," he told her, a small smile on his lips.

"I might make you regret that offer," Kerry whispered slightly. "I might just hurt you more than you like."

"I don't care," he said. "As long as its you."

Okay how could a girl not fall for that line?! Kerry bit her lip, temptation back again as she leaned in. She was going to do it this time! She was going to kiss Donatello Hamato.

"Hey, Don?" Mike said, looking down at his plate as he plate of food. "What's actually nacho cheese made of? Because this stuff is so pro- am I interrupting something?"

Kerry, quick as a lick pulled away though she couldn't pull her hand from Don's grip. The boy whirled around to look at his brother like a deer in headlights. His grip tightened on her hand though, not wanting to lose all of her touch just yet."U-Uh no, nothing at all, Mikey," Kerry said face red as she clutched Don's coat with her other hand. Was she really just about to do that?! Stupid stupid stupid.

"Really? Cause it looked like you were about to-"

"I uh, was fixing his hair, it's windy out here, isn't it?" Kerry said in a rush, her accent thickening. "Have you seen Alex or Raph? They were supposed to be her like, 40 minutes ago."

Mikey shrugged, taking a nacho chip and shoving it into his mouth. "No clue," he said. "But knowing them they're probably sucking face."

"Mikey they're not even dating." Kerry rolled her eyes.

Mikey scoffed. "They may as well be," he said. "I mean, look at them!"

"They're pretending and stuff. It's hard to switch being romantic on and off, you know," Kerry said chuckling a bit.

"Well, tell that to Raph," Mikey said. "Because I think he's really into it."

"Mikey," Don said warningly.

"What?" Mikey said. "Come on, it's obvious he really does have a thing for Alex now."

Kerry bit her lip, should she say Alex definitely had a thing for him too? Or keep her mouth shut, I mean she kept it from Don that she liked him. But maybe they can work towards getting them together?

"You weren't supposed to tell anybody that, Mike!" Don sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"So he really does like her?" Kerry asked raising an eyebrow at Donatello.

"Well duh!" Mikey said. "The guy's head over heels for her."

"Well, now that it's out," Don muttered. "Yeah, it's fairly obvious he has feelings for her."

Kerry bit her lip harder. "Well," Kerry muttered. "Alexlikeshimtoo," she said in a rush.

"She does?" Mikey yelled. Of course, leave it to Mikey to be able to understand rush.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Kerry hushed him with a wave of her free hand. "She'd skin me alive if she knew I told ya!" Kerry grimaced. "But now that we three know they like each other...do we, you know...help them get together?" Kerry asked.

"Isn't that our obligation?" Don asked. Kerry smiled at him.

"Gee, Don, never thought you'd be this _mischievous." _She giggled. "It's kinda hot," she said sticking her tongue out.

Don's jaw dropped, staring wide eyes at the black haired girl. He blinked before rubbing the back of his neck with a smirk. "Well, you know," he muttered. "It's for Raph and Alex. They deserve to be happy."

"Oh, this'll be fun," Mikey laughed.

"What are we going to call our operation?" Kerry asked tapping her chin. "Oh! Operation Ralex!"

"Yes! I ship it!" Mikey said. "What's our first plan of attack?"

"First we have to lull them into a false sense of security with each other. Get them to relax."

"Aren't they already comfortable with each other?" Don asked. "I mean, they always talk about pretty much everything. They sit really close together. They _kiss_."

"They're still emotionally distant though!" Kerry said. "They aren't open enough yet."

"So how do we get them to do that?" Mikey asked.

"...I don't know!" Kerry said and soon deflated a bit with a pout. "I can't really be sure what will bring them closer without risk of pushing them apart instead."

"Well, there goes Operation Ralex," Mikey whined.

"Mikey, no! We can't give up! My ship has to sail!" Kerry said dramatically. "We will find a way," she said with determination.

"We'll think of something," Don agreed with a nod.

"Like you said, there is no two people more deserving of happiness with each other than those two," Kerry smiled.

Mikey glanced down at his imminent older brother's hand, twined between her fingers as if it belong there. _I think it just might be a tie..._

"But where _are _they?" Don asked.

"I don't know, Alex never answered my text," Kerry said worry suddenly overcoming her. "You don't think they got into an accident, do you?"

"No, I built that bike myself. It won't crash," Don said. "They probably just fought and are running late because of it."

"That is amazing, Don," Kerry blinked. "And you're probably right."


	32. Happy New Year

Chapter 32

Happy New Year

"It is so your fault we're late," Alex grumbled, pulling Raph by his arm as they entered the party.

"You're the one who wouldn't give me any hair gel," Raph shot back.

"Because you don't need it," Alex pressed.

"And left your toys where anyone could find them," he added.

"I-I thought we wouldn't talk about that!" Alex muttered. "Y-You know, like the lingerie?"

"I'm just saying don't put the blame on me. Now where is everyone?" Raph asked looking for his brothers and her best friend.

"You were the one that got horny," Alex said.

"You can not blame a guy for that, it has a life of it's own." Raph grumbled.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Why the hell are we talking about your fucking penis?" she asked in a whisper, feeling all the blood rushing to her face.

"You're fault once again." Raph chuckled. "Just the other day Donnie's-"

"What about Don?" Alex asked, curiously, wondering if it was about Kerry.

"A certain song came on the radio the other day." Raph said slowly. "The one he and Kerry danced too."

"You mean the one _we _danced to too?" she asked teasingly.

"Yeah, but it was the day after you told him about her lingerie..." Raph trailed off. "Don has always been a visionary."

Alex laughed so hard her hand to hold onto his arm to keep herself upright. "Oh, that's perfect. We really do need to work on getting them together, you know."

"We really do, Don has always been the brother to annoy me the least." Raph chuckled. "So we're hooking them up?"

"Yes!" Alex exclaimed. "Operation Korny?"

"Ahaha, that is perfect!" Raph laughed. "Now maybe he won't take such long showers and not disappear to his room randomly when Kerry texts him."

Alex scoffed. "Yeah right," she said. "You know for a fact he'll most likely disappear more. You know, to take care of business." She laughed with a wink.

"He already does." Raph whispered to her. "Don isn't as innocent as you think," he scoffed. "He'd like you to think he's a gentleman but in reality he's almost as bad as Mikey."

Alex giggled. "So if he's worse than people think, what does that make you, hothead?" Alex pressed.

"Honest," Raph said with a smirk as his arm went around her shoulders. "I'm just as perverted as I make myself out to be, I don't hide it."

Alex bit her lip, turning her head to try and prevent him from seeing how red her face had gotten. _Oh, I really shouldn't have asked that. I should have just kept my mouth shut. Now I need a cold shower…_ Alex spotted an open couch. "You want to go sit?" she asked, pointing her thumb in the direction of the couch.

"Yeah sure." Raph chuckled. "We can plan our attack strategy." He winked.

"Yes!" Alex exclaimed with a giggle, pulling him by his arm. She plopped down and crossed her legs to prevent anybody from seeing up her black lace dress. "Okay," she said, turning more to face Raph. "What do you think we should do first?"

"Well, we have to find a way for them to just, you know, not be so stiff and hesitant," Raph grumbled.

"You _so _shouldn't have said stiff," Alex giggled.

"Mind out of the gutter woman!" Raph said hitting her leg gently. "Bad Alex."

Alex bit her lip and sat back more to get comfortable. "But the gutter's fun. You find new things there."

"But your mind needs to be on the plan, not foraging around in the gutter." Alex just rolled her eyes and motioned for him to go on.

"Kerry gives Don a lot of grief. Whenever he thinks she's getting close to him, she pulls a 180 and retreats."

"I know," Alex said. "I've tried to get her to open up about it more. It's hard. It's like something's holding her back."

"I hate to agree with Fred, but she's hiding something. Something big, Firecracker," Raph said lowly.

Alex sighed. "I know," she said. "It hurts to know she's keeping all of this in. I mean, I'm here for her no matter what. No matter how big or horrible it could be."

"I can't really blame her," Raph grumbled. "I mean, why ruin a good thing and risk losing what you have. Don thinks about it sometimes, you know. Randomly he'll get a panicked look on his face and we know he's trying to figure her out, so he can protect her better."

"That's because he cares," Alex said. "No matter what, she can't prevent him from wanting to protect her. And, I don't know, if there's the slightest bit chance you could be the happiest you've ever been, don't you think you'd want to take it?"

"Some people are afraid of happiness like that and I think Kerry is one of them," Raph murmured. "They're scared of something they never experienced. You said her mom wasn't involved much right?" he asked.

Alex shook her head. "No, she's normally out of the country for work."

"There you go, she's not used to affection, romantic or otherwise." Raph grinned. "But we'll change that, right?"

Alex smiled up at him softly and spoke even calmer. "Yeah," she said. "We'll change that. She deserves it. They both deserve it."

"Right," he said and gave her a knuckle bump.

"So I guess our first step is for me to talk to Kerry," Alex thought.

"Exactly, get her to open up to you and she'll open up to Don and us next," Raph said.

Alex groaned. "That's so much easier said than done. But I'll do it soon."

"Good, I want my shower back." Raph teased again.

Alex snorted. "I think you spend too much time in there," she said, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair, dragging her nails over his scalp before retracting her hand. "You hornbag."

"Only cause you tease me," Raph grumbled as he leaned his head back into her touch.

"_I_ tease _you_?" she gaped.

"Yes _you_ tease _me."_

"Puh-lease," she scoffed. "You leave me hanging far more than I leave you hanging. Why the hell do you think I had the box out?"

Raph gaped at her. "A-Alex!" he said panicked. "See!" he growled.

"Well, it's nice to know somebody likes the thought of me," she muttered. "You know, in that way. Sometimes I can't help it."

"But we are in public!" Raph said grabbing a pillow and setting it in his lap, just in case she tried something else.

Alex saw this action and bit her lip. He really did think of her in that way. But why? What was there to Alex that made her seem so appealing. She didn't get it. She was Alex, the best friend. She was the girl the guys could tease and be themselves with. They could be just that. Guys. They made guy comments and did guy things without any mind that Alex was really there or that she was a girl.

But not Raph.

"Why me?" she asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Raph asked as he tried to calm himself.

"Why me? I mean, there are a million girls out there so much prettier or smarter or stronger. Why is it me? How is it that _I_ get this kind of reaction?"

"Really Alex? What's better than a girl that totally gets me, huh?" Raph scoffed at her. "If I wanted a supermodel it'd be nothing but her looks, if I dated a nerd we'd have nothing to talk about, if I wanted a bigger athlete it would get boring." Raph rolled his eyes. "You get me, your my bestfriend. What's hotter than that?"

Hearing that made Alex want to cry. She knew why it got to him now, and she couldn't have been happier hearing him say that reason for why she turned him on beyond belief, but he didn't tell her what she really needed to hear. What she really wanted to hear.

That he loved her. That he wanted her because he loved her and that he wanted to be with her in every aspect, not just because he was her best friend. Not just because he found her attractive. But he didn't say he emotionally loved her. He just thought she was his best friend. That he was just helping her out by pretending to be her boyfriend.

Oh she wanted to cry. She had to go. She had to get away from him for a minute to calm down. "I-I'm gonna go f-find Kerry," she muttered, hiding her face in her hair. "I-I"ll be right back."

"Yeah, before the hick has a flip out," Raph chuckled.

Instead of going around the room to look for Kerry, Alex made her way through the long hallways towards the bathroom. She was on the verge of breaking down crying, almost hyperventilating. She was already gasping for breathes through her nose, which was causing the hyperventilating. She always did that. She'd try not to cry and hold her breathe, which would lead her to that state.

"I'll be right back, guys." a familiar voice said as it approached from the other direction.

_No, no, no. Not Kerry. Not now. Not like this, _Alex thought. Alex turned, trying to head back the other direction, but only got a couple steps. _No, this is just going to make it worse!_

"Alex?" Kerry asked as she broke through the crowd.

Alex froze in place. She put a hand to her mouth and nose, trying to stop her gasps. She'd rather suffocate.

Kerry ghosted around her, moving to look at her face. The smile faded from her face whens she saw the tears and the pained expression. Kerry stood there before taking her arm and pulling her with her to an unknown location for the moment. Up the stairs and into a guest bedroom on the second floor. Then into the bathroom she was pulled by her friend, before the door locked in place and they stood alone in the dark.

"Go on then," Kerry simply ordered.

"H-H-He s-s-sai-said its, its be-because I'm his b-b-best friend," she managed to get out, in a sentence take out out of context, making no sense to the black haired girl. That was all she could get out though before breaking down, sobbing and gasping. She leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down until her hand her head hidden in her knees, arms tightly wrapped around them.

Kerry knelt down and wrapped her arms around the girl tightly. She slowly started to rock the girl gently. She let the girl cry as much as she wanted, for ever how long that took. "It's okay, just keep breathing."

It was about fifteen minutes later that Alex finally stopped gasping, and the tears finally stopped running down her now makeup smeared face. She ran a hand across her eyes, trying to take off some of it. It was hurting her eyes.

"Raph," she muttered slightly hoarsely.

"Yeah," Kerry mumbled. "Yeah I get it."

"W-We were talking," she went on. " And s-somehow I asked why he found me attractive."

"Because you're his best friend?"Kerry asked for confirmation.

Alex slowly nodded her head, looking down at the hem of her dress where her fingers were fiddling. "He said there was nothing more attractive than a best friend that knew him better than anybody." She sighed. "And that made me so happy. But then I realized he never actually said he liked me. He didn't say that he loved me. He just said best friend. And I know, he's my best friend too, but I, being best friends and loving him are two separate emotions. He thinks I'm his best friend, but he didn't say he loves me, Kerry. He doesn't love me, Kerry and I think I'm in love with him."

"What do you expect?" Kerry asked. "To just outright say he loves you? To say it completely out of the blue?" A sigh could be heard in the darkness. "Would you do that? I don't think you would either, Lexi."

"If he asked me the same question," Alex started to say, "I couldn't say it's because of how he looks. I couldn't say it's because he's my best friend. It wouldn't be true. I find him attractive the way I do because I love him."

"We say things that aren't true all the time," Kerry explained. "In the heat of the moment, in a moment of panic, we say things we don't mean or things that are only half true. Alex, I promise you that the way you're hurting right now means you are experiencing one of the most wonderful things a person can. You are experiencing real love, and do you know what real love does?" She asked her friend.

Alex shook her head, not knowing where her friend was going with this.

"It waits," Kerry murmured bitterly. "It waits like a little lost puppy waiting for affection it might never get. I learned that tonight too. It waits until it is ready to be received openly, welcomed with equally loving arms." Kerry looked down at her friend. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"It hurts," she muttered.

"Yeah, love does that too," Kerry grumbled.

"So that's it? I'm just supposed to keep going like this? And wait, hope that he feels the same?" Alex sighed. "I makes things more complicated for myself than I need to." She leaned her head back against the wall, eyes closed. A moment later, her head snapped forward and turned to Kerry, eyes wide. "Wait, you learned that tonight?" she questioned. "What happened between you and Don? What did I miss?"

"Don said he's going to wait," Kerry mumbled. "I guess, I-I guess I'm his Raph."

"But what happened?" Alex asked.

"I-I," Kerry gulped audibly. "I almost kissed him."

"What?" Alex gasped. "Really? Why didn't you? Why is that a bad thing?"

"I can't kiss him, Alex, that'd be," Kerry calmed herself down. "That would be cruel to do that do him."

"But you like him," Alex thought. "I don't see how that can be cruel."

"It's because I like him," Kerry said. "I'm not the most healthy person to get into a relationship with and kissing him will only fuel something that shouldn't start in the first place."

"Maybe he's what's supposed to make you healthy," Alex told her.

"I can't take that chance of breaking him Alex," Kerry sighed. "Not yet anyway."

"Are you sure it'd be breaking him, Kerry?" Alex asked. "If it's something he wants, you can't stop him from wanting it. It's his own decision to make."

"You make him sound like a masochist." Kerry chuckled bitterly. "He might just be if he likes me."

"Well, it is Don. He gets electrocuted like twelve times a day just working on his projects," Alex muttered.

Kerry laughed softly. "He might just be a masochist." she joked. "It's always the quiet ones."

Alex chuckled slightly, a ghost of a smile on her lips. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out as she stood up. "Okay," she said, straightening her dress. "How bad is my makeup?"

Kerry stood up and turned on the lights, blinding them briefly with the brightness of the lights. She blinked the spots from her eyes before looking at her friend. "You're good." Kerry assured her.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" she asked.

"No, just in a crowd of hot sweaty teenagers." Kerry scoffed. "Oh shit." Kerry muttered.

"What?" Alex asked her.

"We've been gone for almost thirty minutes. Don has probably blown a gasket by now." Kerry groaned rubbing her temples. "And I can only assume what Raph is doing."

Alex added her own groan to the mix as she ran a hand through her hair. "Come on," Alex said, opening the door. "Let's go face our dooms."

"Why does doom have to look so sexy in a button up?" Kerry groaned as she let Alex pull her along.

"Raph's wearing one too," she sighed. "And he looks amazing."

"Don look's so freaking hot it's not even funny. His chest," Kerry shivered a bit. "Damn him and his stupid penis."

Alex and Kerry made it out into the hall and navigated their way through the crowd, scanning for their boys. "What is up with you and using the word penis lately?" she asked the black haired girl.

"Well it was just while I was on the laughing gas, but then it just kinda stuck. I think it's a good way to sum up just what infuriates me." Kerry shrugged a bit.

"You're so weird," Alex giggled. "Oh, I think they're over by the punch."

"Let's face the music, what's our story?"

"Uh, good question," Alex said. "We could say someone got sick upstairs and we helped them out?"

"Perfect," Kerry said and began shoving her way over to the guys.

"Kerry!" Don exclaimed once his brown eyes caught sight of the girl. His shoulders seemed to relax more, having her in his line of sight. "What happened? You were gone forever!"

"Seriously," Raph grumbled as Kerry blushed darkly at Don's concern.

"Uh me and Alex found each other," Kerry started to explain.

"Where is Alex?" Raph interrupted.

"I'm right here," she told him, stepping out from behind Kerry. "Worry wort."

"Well excuse me for getting worried after you being gone for half an hour," he grumbled. "You guys okay?"

"We are, but some kid upstairs isn't," Alex said, getting herself a cup of punch, which was taken out of her hand by Kerry. She rolled her eyes and poured another one. "He got sick. We got roped into helping him." She took a long drink of punch, throat feeling sore from crying.

"Is he okay?" Don asked. "Do I need to take a look at him?"

Kerry took a gulp of the punch, her throat killing her from holding in her own tears. "He's fine, just got a little to into the party. He'll sleep it off just fine. I have basic medical training." Kerry revealed something no one knew.

"I didn't know that," Don told her, an interested smile on his lips.

"Uh yeah, worked as a lifeguard down in Texas and took a few extra classes incase other emergencies happened." Kerry shrugged looking away, taking another drink to look occupied and totally not blushing under his gaze. "It's not much though."

"But that's really cool," Don said. "Maybe we can get recertified together."

"That sounds awesome!" Kerry grinned with a nod.

"Well, the two geeks are getting along," Alex told Raph, leaning against the table, taking another drink. She moved the liquid around in her mouth a moment, tasting it. Was this punch bad?

"Tch, did you ever think they wouldn't?" Raph chuckled a bit. "What's wrong?" He asked seeing her odd expression.

"After they almost kissed earlier?" Alex whispered to him. "Well, I figured it might be a little awkward."

"Tch," Raph said. "Don was on cloud nine, he says it's one step closer."

"Yeah, Kerry wanted to, but she's kind of convinced herself that she shouldn't," Alex told him, quickly finishing off her rather bad cup of punch. "But I'm working on it."

"Good," Raph chuckled stroking her hair briefly.

Alex, enjoying the feeling of his hand on her hair, leaned into the touch. She was extremely warm and she didn't know why. It wasn't like she was in jeans and a sweatshirt. She was in a short, thin dress. Kerry would be hotter in her leather-like pants and T-shirt. But despite that, Alex felt the need to take off a layer she could afford to removed. She raised a hand and started fanning her face.

Alex turned around and refilled her cup with punch, thinking that another drink would help her cool down. She quickly downed the gross tasting liquid and shook her head, feeling it burn her throat on the way down. The burning just made her need another cup, which she refilled and took a smaller sip that time.

Kerry seemed to be having a good time arranging when they would need to get recertified but she seemed to stumble a bit the side, looking dizzy, the heat seemed to be getting to her as she talked with her friends. She filled up her glass again, taking quick fast drinks, trying to get cooled off. It also seemed to be a bit hard to breathe at the moment, though that could just be because of the crowds. Before long her glass was empty and she was feeling a bit lighter, so she filled it up again.

But now that she took the time, she could vaguely recognize the bitter taste and the burning.. "F-Fuck," Kerry suddenly swore.

Alex rolled her neck, rubbing it with one hand. She was so hot! She leaned against the table even more, shifting it slightly. She giggled at the sudden move, stumbling but managing to catch herself.

"A-Alex-!" Kerry said and tried to take glass from her, but her fingers didn't seem to work. This caused the darker haired girl to start giggling too.

"Uh, girls?" Raph asked looking at them oddly he moved closer to them. "What's so funny?"

"This tastes _really _bad," Alex laughed, downing the rest of her glass. "I need some more." She turned and messily filled the cup, getting some of it on her hand.

"N-no." Kerry tried to stop her but giggling fits were taking over her again. "Fingers," she giggled.

"Fingers?" Don asked, taking Kerry's hand to raise her hand. He thought she was saying something was wrong with her fingers. Did she hurt them?

"Fingers," Kerry confirmed giggling and pressed a kiss to his as they held her at her height.

"Isn't she funny?" Alex giggled, watching the black haired girl as Alex clasped onto Raph's arm, leaning against him so that she wouldn't tip over.

"U-Uh yeah Alex, she's really funny?" Raph said confused. "Are you okay?" he asked feeling her forehead.

Alex downed her cup and set it on the table. "You know who else is funny?" she asked him, moving so that she was pressed up against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"U-Uh no?" Raph asked kind putting his hands on her arms holding her back a bit. Something was wrong here.

"_You_ silly," she giggled, moving her hands from his neck and down his chest, feeling his strong muscles. "You always make me laugh. That's what I love about you."

"Uh Donnie? What's happening?" Raph asked his cheeks turning a dark red, he shifted a bit feeling her hands tracing the contours on his muscle. "Please tell me you know brainiac!"

"U-uh, maybe someone slipped them something while they were gone?" he thought quickly. Kerry was stumbling and swearing a bit every time she tried to move closer to the boy.

"They didn't have any drinks with them though." Raph said narrowing his eyes at the thought of someone doing that to Alex.

"Someone might have spiked the punch," he thought as an afterthought. "And they did just down several glasses."

"Bourbon," Kerry suddenly giggled. "Bourbon in the punch," she said in a sing song voice. "I can taste it!"

"Oh shit," Raph said as he pulled Alex into his arms to keep her from doing anything she'd regret.

"Mm," she hummed. "I love it when you hold me like this," she muttered, nuzzling her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around him, running her hands down his back.

Kerry however started to tear up and start sniffling. "I don't like bourbon!"

"Hey, it's okay," Don told her, taking the cup from her. "You don't have to have anymore. We can go get you something else. Coffee. How does that sound?"

"W-Why are you so nice to me?" Kerry started crying. "I'm such a bitch!"

Don looked at her, as if completely confused about where she was getting that from. "No you're not!" he protested. "You're one of the most loving girls I've ever met."

"I'm one of the only girls you've met," Kerry sniffed. "Oh god see I'm did it again! I'm a total bitch!"

"No you're not!" he pressed, trying to reassure her. "And I'd never think you were!"

"Don, you're arguing with a drunk girl!" Raph rolled his eyes as he tried to get Alex to stop touching him before he had to go get another shower.

"I'd sure like to argue with you," Alex said, smirking up at Raph, a glint her eyes. "Because then do you know what comes after fighting? Make up se-"

"No no no! You are not finishing that sentence," Raph said clamping a hand down on her mouth.

Alex kissed his hand over her mouth before opening it and biting it gently.

"D-Don, we got to get them somewhere, maybe up to a room or somethin' before they do something they'd regret," Raph murmured staring at his girl with wide eyes trying to control his breathing, starting to lead her and Don and Kerry up the stairs and to the bedroom that had been connected to the bathroom and Kerry had been in earlier.

"I could never regret anything with you," she whispered, hands running down his back until they reached his rear.

"Hey! Stop that!" Raph said trying to move her hands. "Alex, stop feeling me up!" He said. God he never thought he'd say that before.

"But there's so much to feel," she whined. "And I want to explore everything! Why won't you let me? Don't you like it?"

"I-I uh, I well," Raph gulped. "You and Kerry are drunk, w-we can't."  
"I'm such a screw up," Kerry cried a bit into her hands. "I let Alex get drunk," her accent slurring her speech even worse.

'It's not your job to protect her from everything, Kerry," Don hushed her, leading her to the bed to sit.

"Y-yes it is. I-I can't lose her!" Kerry said rubbing under her eyes a bit. "I can't lose the only family I have left!"

"You're not going to lose her," Don said. "She's fine. She's right over there, see? She's okay. She's not going anywhere. I promise," he hushed the girl.

"B-But," Kerry blubbered her mind too foggy to find an argument. "She's drunk," she stated.

Don chuckled softly. he took her hands gently and said, "It's okay. So are you. And we'll take care of you two. We promise."

"No, no one has ever taken care of me before, unless they were doctors." Kerry sniffed

"Then go ahead and call me Doc," he told her. "Because I'm not going anywhere."

Raph brought Alex over to the window seat. He opened the window a crack so that she could get some fresh air. "Okay, Firecracker, I need you to take some deep breaths for me." He said stroking her hair.

"Why?" she asked, leaning into his touch, but doing as instructed.

"You're drunk. You need to sober up a bit," Raph told her.

"I'm not drink!" she protested. "I'm Alex." She moved so that she was facing him on the window seat.

"You're drunk, Alex." Raph rolled his eyes as he took her face in his hands to clean her up a bit.

"I love it when you touch me," she told him, relaxing into his hands.

"Yeah, you've told me that, "Raph chuckled with a roll of his eyes. "You just love everything, don't you? One of those drunks, huh?"

"No," she said. "I don't like clowns. And I don't like swimming. I hate swimming. I don't like water."

"Why not?" he asked her.

"I almost drowned when I was little," she said, snuggling into his side. "I don't like deep water."

"Can you swim, Alex?" he asked slowly.

"No," she sighed, nuzzling her face into his neck. "I don't want to know. I don't like water."

"Okay, okay now that I know that," he said slowly. "Now that I know that, I can protect you, right?"

Alex smiled and sighed happily. "I always want you to protect me," she told him. "I always want you to be here. Will you always be here?"

"Always, Alex," Raph promised slowly bringing the girl into a hug. "I'll always be here to protect you, even if you sometimes don't want me too. I never want to lose you, no matter what."

"You promise?" she asked, moving to look up at him with needy eyes.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Raph smiled kissing her forehead.

"Do you promise to love me?" she asked him.

Raph gulped a bit, would she remember all this? What should he say? Should he say how he really feels? Or lie? "I can promise you that I will always care for you and try my hardest to love you the way you deserve," Raph said jumping around the question a bit.

Alex went back to his side, hiding her face into his neck tiredly, but content hearing that. "I'll always love you, Raph."

"Right back at you, Alex."

"Will you make sure they don't take me back?" Kerry sniffed, pressed to Donnie's side. "I don't to go back."

"Go back where, Kerry? I won't make you go anywhere you don't want to go," he said, slowly wrapping his arm around her, happy to be there for her.

"To the place. It was cold there, always really cold." Kerry sniffed. "I couldn't move, they wouldn't let me move often. I don't want them to take me away, Donnie. I want to stay with you. Y-You're warm," Kerry blubbered closing her eyes. "Not like the place."

Don gently stroked her arms, wondering where she was talking about. What place could do something like that to her? What could make her so uncomfortable? He didn't want to bring it up now though. Not with the state she was in. "I won't let anybody take you from me," he told her. "Nobody. Never."

"Good." Kerry sniffed, finally smiling a bit. "I want to stay."

The large grandfather clock in the room chimed, telling them it was midnight.

Alex shifted, looking up at Raph. "Happy New Year," she told him, leaning up and giving his a simple and sweet kiss on the lips. Raph sighed a bit, seeing no harm in a basic kiss like this. He kissed her back slowly, hand resting against her cheek, gently caressing it while the other was still wrapped around her.

Don shifted his gaze from the clock back to Kerry, who was laying her head against his chest, arms holding him tightly. "Happy New Year, Kerry," he told her, gently placing a kiss to the top of her head.

Kerry sniffed and turned her head, pressing a kiss to the charm she had given him, that rested near her head. "Happy New Year, Donnie."

_I promise to protect you,_ both boys thought to the girls resting in their arms as the world shifted into new beginnings.

* * *

Continue reading what happens next in the next installment, Some Things Never Change.


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